Who's Laughing Now?

Nobody.

Remember this?

Well, it has turned out to be the incident that won't go away.

You see, today, my ten year old, who looks terribly cherubic and guileless, which makes it all the more shocking for people when he says or does something...rude...told another child at school, in earshot of several adults to..."Suck My Balls"

Oy.

See the thing with younger siblings, is that it is so much harder to hold onto their innocence. They pick up stuff from the older ones. There is a gang of boys that hangs around our house that range in age from 9 to 17. And many of Pubescent One's friends have older brothers.

Have you had occasion to listen in on a typical conversation being had by 17 year old boys, recently?

I have.

This past summer at the pool, a group of 3 high school boys sat down only a couple of lounge chairs away from mine and began to have a very ungaurded conversation about all manner of things, but mostly, sex, drugs and rock n' roll.

Either I didn't look like much of a threat, or they didn't realize I could hear them so well. So I heard some pretty vile, vulgar, and disgusting things.

Now, I do realize that half of what they said was sheer, unadulterated bloviation for the benefit of their peers. But bloviation or not, the things they were discussing were things no ten year old should hear.

But there's not much I can do about it. That's just the way it is and it's the way it was when I was a kid as well. I suspect that in the 50's, teenagers were telling their younger siblings about Elvis and Jerry Lee Lewis and snickering about tight angora sweaters.

Heck, I remember telling my younger sister all kinds of stuff. I enjoyed shocking her, and I enjoyed feeling worldly and sophisticated; superior in my knowledge of things not spoken of in our home. All matters sexual were of primary interest, because my mother was very closed mouthed about such things. We were pretty clueless, but plenty curious.

We found out what we wanted to know. Unfortunately, much of it was pure bunk.

But what am I going to do? Tell him can't play football with the kids in the street? Tell him he can't play kick the can on summer nights, when the air is balmy and they are frisky as young colts with their newfound freedom? Make him sit inside and watch from the window as everyone else has fun?

Life is hard enough for him. I just can't do it.

And even if I did all that, it wouldn't keep his brother from sharing all his worldy discoveries with him.

And yet, I feel like maybe that is what I should have done.

The principal was quite incenced by his vulgarity. She is a grandmotherly sort, and a staunch Christian to boot.

If you want to know the God's honest truth, I wasn't nearly as incensed as she was, although, I suppose, I probably should have been. But they're just words.

He is a vulnerable kid. His anxiety issues, his social awkwardness, and the feelings of worthlessness that stem from his learning disability, make him extremely sensitive to teasing and unkindness. Words are his only weapon. He wouldn't fight, and he wouldn't respond in kind if someone wounded him with an insult.

Saying "Suck My Balls", frankly, is far more acceptable to me, than punching some kid in the nose.

Regardless, they are coming down hard on him. Very hard. He has lost recess for five days. He has to eat lunch in the principal's office for five days (the incident occurred in the lunch room) AND, he will not be able to participate in field day, which he loves more than anything.

She wanted to suspend him as well, but I pointed out suspension would really be more of a reward than a punishment for Diminutive One. Also, there is the CRCT to consider, so he really dodged a bullett there.

I can't help feeling that his brother should share in his misery somewhat. It was him, afterall, that put this particular wheel in motion.

I'm going to have to give that one some thought. But I do know that YouTube is officially blocked from both computers. I have considered it in the past, but decided that most of what they were looking at was harmless.

That'll teach me to trust the little buggers.

Again...the monster thing? So much easier.