"Mama?" I'm folding laundry as 7 year-old Brittany comes into the room and closes the door behind her. "You know that really, really bad word, the one that we should never say? All the time I hear people saying it!"
I can think of lots of really, really bad words she'd better not ever say, but I can't think of any she should know!
"Well... which one?" I'm cringing a bit at this question.
"You know, the bad one. The one we shouldn't ever say."
I look around us, as if to make sure the tiny room is empty.
"You can say it to me just this once," I whisper.
Big-eyed, she whispers back, "'Oh, my ___'." She steps back with a you-can-fill-in-the-blank look. "That bad word."
"You mean 'God'?" I ask.
Her blue eyes are huge, as if I just said something terrible, something a 7-year-old fears, like that a green alien is coming for dinner.
"That bad word." she says.
"Oh, yes! We shouldn't say that. It's not respectful to God when we say His name like that. That's one of the 10 commandme..." I'm happy to offer a mini-sermon, but she interrupts.
"Well, sometimes we say it when we pray, like 'Dear _____ ' or when we sing we sometimes say it, like 'Oh, my ______ , I trust in You." She can't get herself to say "The Word".
"Yes, we do."
"Then is it okay to say that word sometimes?"
Wednesday, May 18, 2005
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2 comments:
Very cute! I just got on to my 9 year old for saying, Oh my ____ yesterday! I don't think people realize they are saying it, but I hear it all the time. You have taught her well!
That sounds so like my Britty.....she is so sweet, I can just picture the whole thing!!
Love,
Mom
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