Fun Monday-Out of The Mouth of Babes

It's Fun Monday time, and this week is definitely fun. Mariposa is graciously hosting for the third time, and she's labeled this one "Kids Say The Darnedest Things". Here's her assignment for us:

Yes, they can be your children...your nephew...niece....siblings...just any experience which makes you say...indeed, Kids Say the Darnedest Things! They need not be a lot...but no limit to how many you can share...more means more fun!

I think God presents us with funny moments from our children to keep us from yanking off their heads and tearing them from limb to limb when they're standing on our last nerve and jumping up and down. I love watching kids because they're so honest and funny sometimes. I had a hard time narrowing down the items for this topic because there are so many from which I could choose. I finally picked two. The first features my nephew.

When he was just big enough to walk and talk pretty good, we drove to the Nashville antique/flea market, which used to be a huge event in October on the fairgrounds there. Food and drink vendors were scattered around the grounds, and more than once that day Hubby stopped at a stand and bought a beer, always saying, "Cold beer, please". About two thirds of the way into the day, my nephew was walking hand in hand with Hubby when he pulled Hubby towards a food stand, indicating he wanted something. Hubby walked right over to the stand to buy Chance whatever he wanted, figuring he wanted a corndog. When they got to the front of the line, Chance, who could barely see over the table, propped his elbows on the table, and smiled brightly at the clerk. She said, "What would you like, little man?" His reply? "Cold beeeeer pwease." My sister in law was not amused.

My second story for you today hails from Teen Angel's toddler years. We were on a family outing at a mall near Louisville, Kentucky and once again, my nephew was with us. He was about eight years old at the time. Teen Angel was big enough to walk and string sentences together, but there were plenty of words she didn't know...or I thought she didn't know. I was sitting in the floor of a shoe store, trying shoes on her, while Chance, Sissy and Mama J. watched. An elderly lady was standing near us, and...well....she pooted....silently. We all realized it about the same time, and Teen Angel looked up at me and loudly asked, "Who FARTED?!" Now, a good parent would have shushed her and not made a big deal out of it. But I was so stunned that she knew the word, that I was not thinking clearly. In fact, I wasn't thinking at all. I snorted. And then giggled. I just couldn't help myself. Chance, who had been trying not to laugh, burst out laughing as soon as I giggled. Pleased that she got such a pleasant reaction from us, Teen Angel did what any toddler would do. She started laughing loudly and repeated, "Whooooo farrrrrrted?" Sissy and Mama J. lost it, and none of us could get control of ourselves. The poor, poor woman whom I'm sure was mortified to have been called on her little air biscuit, slid around the corner and out of the store. We were out of control. We laughed until we cried, right there on the floor of Payless, unfortunately sending Teen Angel the signal that it was okay to say that word. She kept repeating it, and we kept laughing. I tried to tell her it was a word she shouldn't use, but the horse was already out of the barn. As if that weren't enough, about a half hour later when we were walking through the mall, Teen Angel spotted that same woman, pointed at her and said, "She FARTED!" I wanted to crawl under a rock. I'm sure that woman thought we were horrible people.

That incident has given us a million laughs over the years. Both memories of my nephew are fond ones, especially since he's gone now. It makes me smile just thinking about them now. I also smile when I think about how he couldn't pronounce the "tr" sound when he was little and used the "f" sound instead. He loved firetrucks and liked to use that word. We spent one whole year clamping our hand over his mouth in the presence of a firetruck.

Oh, I can't wait to enjoy the smiles that await us at everyone else's site today. Follow me on over to Mariposa's to read their stories.