My Snergelly Snoz

So my family is having some fun at my expense. I was trying to do some spelling with the kids, but I can't really speak coherently. As my eldest pointed out, I sound like I have smallish bees in my nose like the Once-ler of Lorax fame:
Then he grunts, "I will call you by Whisper-ma-Phone,
for the secrets I tell are for your ears alone."

"SLUPP!"
Down slupps the Whisper-ma-Phone to your ear
and the Once-ler's whispers are not very clear,
since they have to come down
through a snergelly hose,
and he sounds as if he had
smallish bees up his nose.
Now the three oldest men in my house are holding their noses and talking trash to me. Nice.

So last night after my eldest son's team owned their opponents 12-3, my son's coach talked to my husband. He said that he didn't know if he should say anything, but he was in complete shock. He told my husband that my son had sworn in the dressing room. He said, 'sh!t'. Now this was so out of character for my sensitive, kind, sportsmanlike, encouraging his teammates, 'set-apart' son, that his coach and teammates could not believe it. The Boy told us that the other boys laughed and said that it must be the first time the Boy had ever sworn.
I think my boy was a bit embarrassed by the attention. I also think he learned a lesson. People are watching and paying attention to him. He sets himself apart from his peers. He has a deep abiding love for his God that permeates his character. It shows in all his interactions with others. His teammates and friends expect him to act a certain way and they respect him for it. So when he does something out of character people notice that too. He now knows that he needs to be aware of what comes out of his mouth and how he comports himself as a child of God.
What a great reminder for all of us. What image am I portraying to those around me? Does my character stand my faith in good stead? I am especially concerned with my deportment in my home. Am I someone I want my children to emulate? Our children are most likely to become like their parents, so it is pretty darn important that we are examples of what we would like them to be. Our actions speak far louder than words.
We all had a good conversation and a few laughs over this incident, my poor boy was so embarrassed that I knew, that his father brought it up in front of me. It did give me a great opening to share a story from his much younger days though.
It was thanksgiving dinner the year he was in grade 2. His dad was away in Michigan working and I had invited my cousin and her hubby and their friend for dinner. We were sitting there eating our turkey and my sweet little boy piped up. "Mom, what does f*u*k*c spell?" I could tell from the look on his not so innocent face that he knew he was saying something 'bad' and shocking. All of us grown-ups looked at each other and burst out laughing in shock. To be honest, we were laughing just as hard at the fact that my super smart kid had spelled the swear word incorrectly as that my sweet, innocent child was asking about a swear word.
I tried to calmly explain what the word was and that it was a nasty, filthy word. I asked him where he had seen that word. He told me that it was written on the fence boards on a path near school. Darn that graffiti!
I think my eldest children have been feeling a bit neglected lately, I have not been really on my game since I got pregnant. I deal with the littles because they absolutely need me to feed them and dress them and and wipe their bums. I have left the older two to do a lot on their own. And it seems to be affecting them negatively. Tonight was a nice opportunity to reconnect with them and laugh together.
Even if it was at the expense of me and my stuffy nose.