Dashiell dichotomy
Today Conrad came up to me and my babysitter Jessica and tattled, “When Dashiell was in the bathroom he called Jessica ‘the girl with the plunging boobies’.”
I couldn’t believe my ears! And then I realized she was wearing a tank that showed a fair amount of cleavage. Jess was having a rough day with guys. Earlier she had walked in the house on the verge of tears because her heart, as she said, “was breaking” but she didn’t want to start crying so she didn’t elaborate. I told Dashiell that it’s not nice to talk about anyone’s body parts—not their hair or nose or boobies—and when I said boobies he burst out laughing, but he did manage a coy apology to Jess.
I also apologized and marveled out loud about where he picked up word as mature as “plunging” and knew to pair it with boobies. He certainly hadn’t overheard me talking about any of my own clothes. The whole scenario dovetailed with what we’d been talking about with friends all weekend. It seems like our kids are growing up kind of without permission and we’re wondering what their threshold for drugs, sex and rock-n-roll will be. The story that set off our debate (and was making the rounds at the Teacher Toasts in town) was about a local 11-year old boy who stole his father’s VW bug with a friend and the two got caught driving it by a meter maid who detained them until the police arrived. And according to some their parents didn’t do much about it.
After the boobie incident we decided to play Shoots and Ladders with the boys. Dashiell was getting the counting part but he wasn’t always clear on which direction to go in. Board games have been a problem since they involve rules and in some cases strategy but he was able to keep up and I thought gosh he’s three-and-a-half and so grown up. Then Conrad landed on a spot that gave him a ladder move all the way up the to the finish line and he won. We congratulated Conrad and Dashiell burst out into tears. I was so grateful for his sobs. His outburst reminded me we have several years between now and the day he’ll try to steal our car.