Sunday, October 16, 2016

So THAT Happened Today

After nearly six years of providing in-home daycare (to many of the same children) I shouldn't be surprised by much. I've heard and seen A LOT. I've heard some doozies come out of kids mouths. I've had to send more disclaimer notes/texts/phone calls than I care to admit. Friday was another disclaimer day.

Friday started as an atypical day. Some of the big kids didn't have school and came to daycare instead. My kids had school....but I let them stay home because I really didn't feel like fighting with them to go to school. We had a special day of playing games, decorating pumpkins, reading books, and ordering pizza for lunch. Everyone was sitting nicely and quietly (for once) eating lunch when Max, my oldest child, said to all of the kids (ages 1-8 mind you):

"Testicles is that thing that hangs in the back of your mouth." My eyes widened and I giggled a bit and told him no that's not what that is called. Again, he said, commanding the attention of all little ears "yes, it is. That is testicles. What do you think testicles is?"

As he's saying this, all of the kids had their fingers in their mouths repeating "testicles, testicles, testicles" over and over again.

I very calmly took the oldest (and two other boys who were curious about their testicles) aside and explained where testicles are actually located. At 8 years old I thought he knew these things. We're pretty open parents and don't hold back when it comes to this kind of thing.  Never assume anything when it comes to kids. As the boys made their way back to the table and I heard:

"hey guys! Guess where testicles are?" Followed by a conversation about male anatomy. The entire time I was trying my damnedest to move the conversation a different direction. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, I diverted everyone's attention with a cookie. Who says bribery doesn't work??

Make no mistake, I laughed. I actually went into the bathroom to have a laugh about it all and at the same time I wanted to curl up under a rock and hide. I could only picture one of the little girls seeing their parents after daycare and talking all about testicles. Or one of the two year olds pointing in their mouths exclaiming "testicles!" while their parents watched in horror. I thought about sending out a daycare wide parent text but I wasn't sure what to put.

I could only imagine receiving a text "we learned about testicles today" in the middle of the afternoon from childcare. Instead each parent got a disclaimer conversation at pick up, just in case their child decided to repeat the hot lunch topic.

So, that was my Friday. Things are never dull and I am never short on laughs!