Little Ears

For well over a year now, I've been diligently reminding Dan (and occasionally myself) the heightened importance of watching every single word that we utter in Ben's presence. Ben simply picks up on everything that is said these days, especially the occasional "slip-up" (gasp!) or less than flattering words that sporadically enter our vocabulary on a day-to-day basis. This self-censorship is a necessary (but painful) learned parental skill, and although Dan has certainly improved over the years when determining what is and is not appropriate to say in the presence of our 3.5 year old, there is still room for improvement. Which is precisely why I gave Dan the evil eye look of death when, one recent morning, Ben decided his new favorite thing to say to me is:

"Just don't freak out, Babe!"

This is absurd (and admittedly, kindda funny) on many levels. Not only is my son now referring to me as "babe", but now he's ordering me to not freak out sometimes several times a day. Ah, how precious. His first Father-ism. I'm bracing myself for the day he turns to me asks me to bring him a "cold one".