FINDING PAM PART 2

"BOOTY BITCH"

This is Part 2 of our 3-part series on Finding Pam.

As you know, Pam is my friend, and I want you to get to know her and to enjoy her fine writing.

And while you're reading her posts, remember we need to help her pick a new blog name for her upcoming blog.

So let's rock to "Booty Bitch", OK?

Ladies & Dudes, I present Pam!

5, 4, 3, 2, 1, Now.

Yes, this beautiful little angel is the one with the potty mouth

So, it seems that my youngest daughter's colorful language has some of you a bit curious, and at least a few of you rolling on the floor.

Just to clear things up, no I didn't teach her to say that particular phrase. We can thank the power of peer socialization for her expansive vocabulary. Other three-year-olds in her class have older siblings, and perhaps parents, who use such language around them (not that I ever would, mind you ;-)).

The descent into vulgarity began with Ainsley calling people "butt". Really, butt isn't such a bad word, so we mostly ignored it. Then "butt" became "buttcrack." I almost died (with laughter) the day she called Grandma a "buttcrack" on the phone. Good thing her enunciation wasn't that clear and Grandma didn't know what she said (until now, since I'm sure she'll read this sooner or later). Then "buttcrack" became her main "shock" word. After the peals of laughter the first few times she said it (despite my best attempts to maintain a straight face), it grew old very quickly.

You have to understand my younger daughter's personality. She is not a people pleasure. With my older daughter, when she said a "naughty word" we simply told her that wasn't a nice word and not to use it any more. And she didn't. If you tell my younger daughter not to do something, you have just guaranteed that she will do it - over and over and over again.

Then one day she came home and called her sister a "booty bitch". Here is how the exchange went:

Abby: Mooommmmmmmy.......Ainsley just called me a booty bitch!

Me: Wha....?????

Abby: A booty bitch, mom. A BOOTY BITCH!!

Me: I heard you honey, I'm just stunned. (stunned silence).

Me again: AINSLEY GRACE!!!! Where did you hear such a word??

Ainsley: From school. From Joey.... (lovesick look in her eyes).

Me: That is NOT a nice word. You do NOT call your sister, or anyone else, that name ever again!! Do you understand me, young lady??

Ainsley: YOU'RE a booty bitch, Mommy!!

And this is how it has gone every time. We have tired sending her to time-out when she says it (which usually earns a "buttcrack" or even an occasional "butthead"). We have tried ignoring it. We have talked with her teacher at school. We have talked to the other parents (apparently "booty BIOTCH" is pretty hot in some other households right now). But frankly, although it annoys the hell out of my husband, I'm not all that concerned about it. It's just a bad word. And not a really bad one at that. It only has the power we give it with our reactions to it. And we LOVE the preschool and would never leave over a few "buttcracks" or "booty bitches."

Perhaps it was my own childhood that has created this laissez-faire attitude with my three-year-old's potty mouth. I can distinctly remember the first time I dropped the F bomb in front of my parents. I was about 10, or maybe 12, years old. I had a splitting headache. Here is a vague recollection of what happened.

My Mother: Would you PLEASE pick up your shoes off the stairs?!?!?

Me: Leave me ALONE!! I have a f*cking headache!

My Mother: **stunned silence** (I think "oh shit!")

My Father: Looks up from his newspaper and says "Well, then take some f*cking aspirin!" (sorry for the * - just trying to limit the freaky google searches. The 'booty bitch' will draw enough of them).

So, there you have it. My older daughter prefers to express her negative feelings through whining, my younger one through cursing. I love her just the way she is. Potty mouth and all.

:) :) :)

:)

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