You Can Do It!

Do you know those moments when your child says something horrifying in public? Yeah, that happened to me late Sunday afternoon. I know there are parents out there who only post cute kid quotes on Facebook. Thus, leading us to believe they have incredible DNA to produce such perfect human beings, right? Wrong. There is Facebook and then there is reality. I bet that child curses like a trucker (or a mother who just ran out of coffee) around the house.

So, here is how it went down. My 2-year-old daughter wanted to go for a bike ride. She wants to ride her bicycle everyday. I guess she figures she needs to start training. Ya know, with Lance Armstrong out this is her big chance. My 5-year-old enthusiastically came along. I’m kidding. He whined, complained and cried because I forced him to go. After 10 minutes of pouting and refusing to pedal he actually started to have fun. At that moment, my daughter decided she would rather run. So, we carried her bike while she trotted along the curb. My son, in an attempt to motivate her yelled, “Go! Run like you are Chinese!” (Cue: sound effect tires screeching!) “Um, what did you just say?” He replied, “I told her to run like she was Chinese.” Yep, that is what I thought he said. I had hoped my 37-year-old ears were starting to fail. “That is inappropriate. We don’t say stuff like that honey.” He looked confused. “What? My friend in school is Chinese and he can run faster than anyone.” I explained to him that it doesn’t mean all Chinese people are fast and we don’t stereotype people. He didn’t know what stereotype meant. His comment was based on an innocent observation by a kindergartner. In his mind, he wasn’t mocking anyone. Still, I took that opportunity to teach him a lesson. He rooted for his sister the rest of the way home, but with a more appropriate cheer.