The F Word

Now that Natalie is a "first grader" in a class with second and third graders, no less, I am finding that she is is really growing up faster than I want her to. She is the youngest in her class, and I am learning that she is quite impressionable. Because she is the youngest, all of her new friends are older than she, and many of them have older siblings, therefore, she is being exposed to words, phrases, songs, etc. that I wasn't really prepared for. "Jingle Bells, Batman smells, Robin laid an egg..." I know it is harmless, but it is a gateway tune to a maturity that I want to selfishly prevent. My bubble has a very slow leak.

So the other day, while sitting at the breakfast table, Natalie looks at me quite seriously (because she is a serious kid) and says, "Mommy, you know the f word?"

I quickly retorted with a "What?!" without trying to sound too alarmed, so has not to scare her into not continuing what she was going to tell me.

"You know, the f word," she says with a little more emphasis.

I was draining of color because Batman smelling is one thing, but swear words...that might be worse than the stomach bug. Furthermore, I know for a fact that she did not learn this word from me.

Calmly, "I'm sorry, Nat, I am not sure what 'f' word you mean."

"The secret f word, Mommy. Fairy."

Parenting bullet dodged....for today.