Anyone who has ever met my sweet Megan figures out pretty quickly that she is definitely my MIDDLE child. She is the very definition of "quirky." One of those quirks - she is quite the chatterbox. Here is one of her latest "chatterings."
Megan attends preschool at our church, First Presbyterian, Greensboro. The preschool does many outreach projects throughout the year. They are currently collecting paper products for local families transitioning from homelessness. Earlier this week, I was packing Megan's bag with the items I had purchased for our donation. Our conversation went like this:
Megan - "What's that for?"
Mom - "You know Caring Kingdom at preschool? They are collecting paper products for poor people who used to be homeless and don't have money to buy these things."
Megan - "What kind of paper products?"
Mom - "Toilet Paper, Kleenex, paper towels.... Stuff like that."
Megan - "We are giving them toilet paper?" (We also had some Kleenex, but she was obviously focusing on the TP.)
Mom - "Yes. The government gives them food stamps to help them get food, but they can't use the food stamps for these things."
There was a pause and Megan was definitely looking a bit uninterested, so, for effect, I added:
"Megan, isn't that sad that there are people right here in Greesnboro who don't even have enough money to buy toilet paper??"
Megan's expression changed to one of great concern and she responded:
"You mean they can't even wipe their #@%?!?!?!"
After I picked my jaw up of the floor, my initial reaction was a firm reprimand. "Megan Julia Witherspoon, you better not EVER say that again! Do you understand me?? That is UGLY!"
My second reaction?? I had to quickly walk away so she didn't see me laughing hysterically!
From this 2 minute exchange, I came to two realizations. First, I was reminded of the innocence of children (yes, innocence.) After my flowery, heartfelt explanation, Megan shared with me the very basic (and blunt) interpretation from her child's mind. Secondly, I am very aware that language is learned and that perhaps it is the adults in Megan's life (i.e. David & me) that need to chew on a bar of soap occasionally!!