(With a nod to Meet the Fockers for giving me a way to write this word into the title of a family friendly blog.)
Why the profanity?
It
could be because Anchorage broke its record for snowfall on April 5th
with over five inches recorded and double that if you live on the
Hillside or higher.
(Taken Sunday morning at the dog park.)
Or because after resting my back
for a couple days, I opted to play in my hockey tournament and my team
lost two of our four games, knocking us out of a championship bid; and
I can’t really blame my back for the fact that I sat on the bench for
most of the goals we scored and lay on my stomach on the ice for most
of the goals the other teams scored.
But no.
Here’s why.
On
Thursday, as I lifted Elias into his car seat, just as I feared, I felt
another shooting pain in my back and let out a quiet: “Oh, f_cker.”
Classic bad parent move.
Elias, of course, giggled and repeated the word-- though it did sound more like: focker, focker, focker.
I
chose to ignore him in hopes that by not bringing attention to the word
it would lose power and he’d soon forget the expression and return to:
Uh Oh Spaghettio, Holy Moly, or Ruh-Ro.
(Think of Scooby Doo saying uh-oh—now, Elias has never watched Scooby Doo but Jen, one of his swim therapists, said ruh-ro
once during swimming and its become one of his regular terms of
expression, such as: “We have a ruh-ro here,” when his walker gets
caught on a root or on the back of someone’s chair as he tries to run
laps in a restaurant.)
Focker, focker, focker.
I closed Elias’s door, jumped in the driver’s seat and headed to therapy. I didn’t hear the word again for the rest of the day.
Phew.
On
Friday morning, still trying to stretch out the pulled muscle in my
back, I remembered Nick’s heating pad, and on my way up the three
stairs to the bedroom I somehow managed to miss the first step,
stumble, and slam my pinky knuckle against the door frame as I tried to
catch myself.
“Ow… ow…ow,” I muttered as I rolled around on the small landing between our two bedrooms.
And then I hear it from my sweet little baby boy:
“Focker!”
Not a curse word left my lips, this time, but Elias, in perfect context, reminded me of what I said last time.
On
Saturday, Nick carried Elias, his backpack, and his walker, out of the
rink, through the snow, to the truck and he grumbled when the key stuck
in the lock refusing to turn.
“Focker!”
The same expletive, in perfect context, from Elias’s small mouth.
And
I must admit, though I’m ashamed for teaching him his first curse word
and just waiting for him to let it loose at preschool, I cant shake a
feeling of pride in how quickly he learned, not how, but when to use
the word. I mean, it takes a heightened understanding of situations to
know to bust the word out at a time when your mom or dad might be
saying it anyways if they weren’t trying to protect your innocent ears.
Now we just have to teach him not to say it.
Oh Focker
-Excerpted from Following Elias, originally published on Parents.com. Copyright 2009 by Meredith Corporation. All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission.
brooke3359516 wrote:
Fantastic!! What a moment of, um, pride. ;-)
4/7/2008 1:29 PM CDT
sara from italy wrote:
Wow it's a story very interesting!...Elias has really good memory and associates so well the situation with the word!...This is so important....I am glad for you!(even if the word is not one of the best)....
4/7/2008 3:29 PM CDT
Deidremz wrote:
Oh Christy, I'm laughing so hard right now. Not at your pain (tiger balm, 4 advil, and some hip stretches work really well for my back-just in case you want some unsolicited assvice). This post is hilarious. I still curse at inappropriate times so Elias is way far ahead of me on the nuance curve. Hang in there and get well soon.
D
4/7/2008 6:57 PM CDT
Niksmother wrote:
ROFL! I quake with fear at the thought of what Nik's first spoken words will be (hangs head in shame).
You must admit, the grasp of context and timing will certainly stand Elias in good stead...until he lets fly the profanity! (Sorry, I'm STILL laughing...)
4/7/2008 8:15 PM CDT
Nelba wrote:
Thanks for a good laugh!
4/8/2008 8:35 AM CDT
k_zentner wrote:
LOL! That is too funny! I've missed a few of your last posts (we've been crazy busy) and it's nice to catch up. Maybe we'll be able to come say hello while you're in Seattle...
I hope things are going well!! Love, K&T
4/8/2008 9:16 PM CDT
ReimerReason wrote:
My son is older....but he has the same word. I wrote about it here: http://jodireimer.blogspot.com/2007/05/meet-focker.html
4/9/2008 12:08 AM CDT
Following Elias wrote:
Jodi, thanks for sharing the link and making me smile. As to the question on your post, I would say that "focker", without intent, is not really a swear:)
4/9/2008 6:37 PM CDT
Posted by: Christy | 09/27/2009 at 08:35 PM