After having sung the boys their bedtime song and kissed them goodnight, I headed down the hall toward my daughter's room. As I entered I could hear the soft sound of her muffled cry.
That is when my 10 year old daughter told me that she had said "two bad words" that day. I smiled at this petite little broken angel and asked what she had said.
"Bitch...."
"Well, do you know what that means?" I asked trying to keep a straight face.
"No," she replied.
I explained that it was a female dog and people used that word in an ugly way. I asked her what else she said. In a meek little voice she looked at me and innocently said, "f@&k".
"Oh!" Well, that is an ugly term for something very beautiful between a married man and his wife I answered...totally shocked and taken aback by the look on her face."
"It is probably better that we don't use those words."
Then it happened...."but I am proud of you" Her eyes glistened as they filled with tears. "I am proud of you because you knew in your heart that you had done something that wasn't right and you told me the truth. Your spirit was speaking to you"
I think we both learned something that night.
Children grow and the challenges they face become grander then saying "bad" words. As a mother, our tests are learning when to listen so we can hear the pain behind the challenges our children are facing and help them learn the lessons of their trials. We cannot always protect them from the hurts, but we can help guide them if our words do not add to the pain.
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