Saturday, January 23, 2010

What the Hell???

Three days ago, I came across a DS cartridge Ben had left behind. I excitedly showed it to Ruth only to watch her shrug her shoulders and wander back into the living room. Ruth's lack of enthusiasm coupled with my extreme fatigue equated to me completely forgetting about it.

...until this morning.

I awoke to the sounds of tiny electronic coins being snatched by a plumber with a mustache. I was surprised. Ruth generally only likes games that involve animals who wear clothes. This was a turning point in Ruth's DS gaming experience. A turning point, I might add, she seemed quite pleased with.

Ruth's only allowed to play her DS on Saturdays and in the car. Today, she got the best of both worlds and I heard it click open before I'd ever turned the key in the ignition. The radio was playing, the skies were dark, and the air conditioner was blowing cold air on my feet. Then, somewhere along Highway 98, I was suddenly thrust from my thoughts as Ruth (in her trademark sing songy voice) said to herself, "I don't even know what the hell I'm doing!" and continued to click away at her game.

My brow wrinkled.

I took deep breaths.

Then I said, "Hey Ruth, did you just say 'I don't even know what the hell I'm doing?' "

(and how does one punctuate the quotation inside a quotation because I can't, for the life of me, remember)

The DS drops to her lap as she giggles and says, "Gosh Mom, sometimes I don't even know what I'm saying!"

Yeah, apparently.

-->Insert quick conversation about appropriate language useage for children here<--

We went about the rest of our day fairly uneventfully. We watched a movie together, bought groceries, read every greeting card in the store, and overtipped a waiter at one of our favorite restraunts.

But what she said this morning still lingers and I have to ask myself...

Do I even know what I'm doing?

Love,
me

4 comments:

Mrs. Robinson said...

Don't ? your ability to teach or guide your children. I am certain you are doing a remarkable job! If it is any comfort to you to know in just the last 4 days, I have heard my 3 yr old say,
"B*tch and moan, B*tch and moan."
"Damn it" at least 3 times
and the real kick in the gut -"Jesus Christ" it's the last one that really bothers me more than anything! Additionally - My eleven year old went to put on his shoes a couple weeks ago and I heard him say, "Now, where the hell did I put them?" When confronted with it, typical of his character, he denied it, but eventually admitted and his response was just the same as Ruth's. "Sometimes, I just don't know what I am saying." hmmm, truth is, they probably are telling the truth when they say that.
Since I can't in good conscience tell my children that this is BAD (although it is), because some, not all of the words mentioned above, I frequently use, no matter how hard I try not to, I simply tell Jacob, "These are words you can use when you pay taxes."
I know - - - What am I teaching my children.... hmmm
Anyway, don't beat yourself up over it:)
Laura

Val said...

That is too funny - I'm just waiting for those days. Both girls have started saying they can't do things because their tummy or back hurts to much. Which is Mommy's excuss a lot when they want me to carry them or lift them one more time onto something. So I can only imagine when they start repeating my other phrases!! Great story - made me laugh!!

PaullaWalla said...

There are days when I feel like I've got this mom thing down and other days when I don't even know if I have the Paula thing down yet. Ah well...

As for aches and pains keeping the kiddos from doing things. Ruth used to tell me I had to carry her because her legs were broken (age 2). Ha!

Big Mama Cass said...

If you figure it out pass it on to the rest of us. I don't know which end is up right now *sigh*

Hugs