"What did she say...?"

     It has been said that having a child lets you see the world through their eyes. While that is true, what they forget to tell you is that, given the extra time and experience you've had on the planet, you know there are times and places you can't say certain things. Young children no nothing of this concept. To them if they can say a word, they will say it and enjoy saying it, no matter the external situation. The first example my wife and I had of this was when our one year old decided that she wanted to sing the word "poop" over and over in the middle of the church service. While most agreed that it was cute and funny, which looking back on it it was, it was extremely mortifying to my wife and I setting there at the time.

     We didn't realize at the time, but that was a prelude to what was coming next. Since that time in church, our daughter has grown both physically and mentally, picking up new skills and words faster than we can keep track of. Last week, our now 15 month old startled us by saying, with some force, the word "f*ck" over and over again. The first time we heard, it my wife and I looked at each across the living room with shocked expressions and I said, "What did she say?".
 
     We were initially at a loss about what she was actually saying and what she wanted. Our first thought was to try and keep her from saying it again. We realized though that, if we made a big deal out of it, she would want to say it all the time. Fortunately, as I write this, she has only said it among family, and not in public. I dread the judgmental looks when she eventually does though. As best as we can tell, when she says that, what she is really asking for is a fork. Although at first we thought she was talking about a truck.

     With the above in mind, when I saw the following bad product idea at howtobeadad.com I laughed, and in a completely selfish moment, almost wished it was real.

     It also made me realize that we were just beginning to enter our daughter's language related parental embarrassment phase. While how it would work is planned out, I think it would, more often than not, back fire. What they have listed under side effects would probably, inadvertently, be the main output of such a toy.

     They have plenty of even funnier things @ howtobeadad.com, so check them out.





1. http://www.howtobeadad.com/2012/11966/bad-product-idea-10-peter-pottymouth-proper-pronunciation-wheel