My Kiddo Loves Using This Finger!
It was only a week and a half ago when my son was excited to show me a cut on his finger in the most hilarious way possible...
The Middle Finger
He rolled it out and said...
"HEY DADA, look at my cut"
to which his presentation, looked a little something like this...
It was so amusing yet so shocking to see him doing this crazy ass gesture towards me. I had to think about it for a moment then realized, he was not only trying to be funny but he had an idea what the gesture actually meant.
Cue the Cheesy "Full House" Weekly Lesson Music
He saw my reaction and immediately stopped... he knew it was a "bad finger" and he tried to play it off by pointing to the paper cut on his finger.
Honestly, I was biting the bottom of my lip trying not to laugh but I worked past the urge and questioned him why he just flicked me off.
He insisted he didn't do anything and of course got very scared that he was in trouble. We ended up explaining to him what the "middle finger" actually meant and asked him to explain where he learned it from.
A Little Back Story
Back To The Story
"I don't know"
Little did his Momma know.. the "back story" and I cringed at my bad choice that day. Could he have picked this up from me? I struggled with the answer to this question but reminded myself it was never a dish I served with a plate of extreme sarcasm such as MR BATMAN from above.
After finally convincing him that we weren't mad at him.. he finally admitted that he picked it up from a friend of his in class. This friend supposedly got in trouble by some other snitch of a classmate who told the teacher, what he was doing.
Cue The Cheesy "Full House" Weekly Lesson Music AGAIN
You Too
That moment you realize your kid is becoming a follower...
I Felt Relieved Yet Disappointed In Myself
I have always been a clown.. I've learned that making people laugh is a very awesome attribute of my character and I preach this to my son over and over. I tell him how much it makes people feel better and can help with sadness. Little did I realize he was taking this in the wrong direction... he was looking for what made people laugh and storing it in his Insta "laugh bank"By the end of the night he understood it was a horrible gesture, very disrespectful and assured us he wouldn't do that to anybody.
Today I Learned...
My son and his teacher walk up to my vehicle at the end of the school day... She opens the door and he jumps in the back seat, buckles himself up. She gives him a smile and says..
"Have A Good Weekend..."
"Oh, Wait..."
"We had a little accident in class today... Ethan had a little error in judgement trying to be silly with the bad finger, today"
I sighed at the news.. a little defeated, I responded..
"wow, greeeeaaaat... we just had a talk about this "finger" situation. I'll talk to him when we get home..."
She proceeded to explain that it was very out of character of him to act so foolishly and that it was something she felt confident he wouldn't do again.
What she didn't know was the level of shame and guilt I already felt in using this gesture around my son and me encouraging him to make people laugh were probably both factors that helped him make such a decision.
I've felt a bit guilty since yesterday evening.. maybe more then I did last week, when this situation first became an issue. I now know as a father, I need to fight the urge to be impulsive and maintain my composure in front of my son.
This is a lesson I learned and because of that, I couldn't be angry at him but I did express my disappointment in that we just talked about how wrong of a gesture it was.
To Which He Responded
Till Next Time... Adios Amigos
