Who Let the Fat Out of the Bag?

I know every child is different. But Kelsey never ceases to amaze me, break the mold, or make my face burn with embarrassment (or frustration).

Averey never uttered anything worthy of public humiliation. But alas, as Kelsey is our wild middle child, who is never afraid to express her thoughts, let a terrible faux pas slip from her lips the other day.

I decided to take Kelsey and Jacey to Averey's school to have lunch with her on her birthday. Kelsey, in her great excitement, said hi to every person walking down the hall, telling them her name and that she's in preschool. Of course, in Kelsey-speak, the passers by probably could not interpret her stats.

That was, until, one lady walked down the hall. Kelsey exclaims in a friendly voice, "Hi! You look like you're fat!"

Well, color me mortified! I think the not-so-fat lady chuckled, but unfortunately, there could be no misinterpretation. I didn't know what else to do but give Kelsey's cheek a little flick. She cried, and I told her that she could not say that word to anyone. It's an unkind word, and we can't tell people they're fat.

I couldn't even think of a time we used it... until I recalled Kelsey calling her daddy fat, to which we all laughed. Whoops.

This morning, she struck again, calling my mother fat. (To which she is not, of course.) I did not flick her cheek, but once again calmly explained to her that she could not use that unkind word, and she still cried. But it seemed the point had been drilled into her head.

After church, I picked her up from her classroom, to which she gleefully said, "Mommy! I didn't say fat!" (To which she told her daddy, "The word left my head!")

Hmm. Perhaps we'll have to try another trick in the book. What that trick is though, I'm just not sure.

What I do know is that the next time I want to have lunch with Averey, I'll be going by myself.