Comeuppance

By Barbara Brady

We worry about what a child will become tomorrow, yet we forget that he is someone today.
~Stacia Tauscher

Three young grandchildren were in my care for the day and I hoped no major catastrophes would occur. The usual chaos had temporarily halted and we gathered in the family room. The children amused themselves, at least for the moment.

Artistic Missy, age six, busily covered sheets of typing paper with pictures and designs. I didn't comment on the crayons and colored pencils scattered to the far corners of the room. Stephanie, age four, lugged in her big dollhouse and plunked it in the midst of the myriad of toys already spread out on the floor. Tiny pieces of doll furniture littered the carpet, adding to the already present obstacle course. Tommy, age three, kept busy by constantly flinging a tennis ball in an effort to make a "basket" through the roof of the dollhouse. Now and then Stephanie and Missy hollered at their pesky younger brother to quit bothering them but it didn't stop his Michael Jordan imitation.

I tuned out the name-calling and grabbed a chance to put my feet up in the big recliner chair to snatch a well-deserved break. Closing my eyes, I sighed gratefully for a day without unfortunate incidents. Suddenly a gap in the children's playful quarrelling alerted me. Missy, a precocious first grader, spouted orders to her younger sister.

"Stephanie," she commanded with authority, "you are never to use the F word or the S word."

Appalled at the thought of foul language coming from the mouth of a six-year-old, my feet thumped to the ground. I lunged from my chair to take charge. Surely my precious grandchildren hadn't learned such crude language from their parents. Certainly not from their grandparents! I shook my finger in Stephanie's face to get her attention. "Just what kind of language do you think you're using, young lady?" I barked. "Bad language will not be tolerated in this house," I warned with every intention of sending Stephanie to her room until her parents returned.

Stephanie looked shocked. Tears filled her brown eyes and her lower lip quivered. Missy moved close to her sister, eyes wide and puzzled. "But Grandma," Missy offered, eager to defend her sister, "I just told Stephanie it's naughty to use the F and S words. She called me Stupid. Mommy says we aren't ever supposed to call anyone Fat or Stupid. I'm sorry."

A chagrined grandma had overlooked the infinite wisdom of parents and the uncorrupted innocence of children. The grandchildren obviously could manage very well without interference from a clueless grandmother. I mumbled an apology and slunk back to my chair.

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