Sometimes I think my kid is practicing to be a juvenile delinquent. He just loves stirring up trouble at school. First it was stomping his feet at the lunch table to get everyone else to do it, too. When he got corrected for that, he invented an imaginary friend to be the stomping ringleader. (Clever, clever...) Lately, though, he's turned to another method of riling up his friends at lunchtime: potty talk. Today I got a note sent home saying that he hadn't been allowed to finish his lunch because he persisted in doing potty talk at lunch--specifically, he asked another child if he'd like to go to the "poop store." (I snicker even typing that! And I wonder where he gets his sense of humor from...)
Anyway, even though I'm secretly amused by the idea of a "poop store," I know I can't encourage Theo to keep being disruptive, so I talked to him about the issue. It went like this:
Me: Theo, I heard you got in a bit of trouble at lunch. Teacher Amanda said you were using potty words at lunch.
Theo: Yes. [He always says yes. And always very seriously. It's kinda funny.]
Me: You know it's not appropriate to say those words anywhere that's not the bathroom.
Theo: Yes.
Me: That means you don't say peepee, poopoo, bottom, or penis at the lunch table.
Theo: What about butt? You forgot about butt, Mom. [Because he always likes to get the last word!!]
Me: That's right. No butt, either. Do you understand?
Theo: Yes.
Me: Why do you say those words at lunch when you know you're not supposed to?
Theo: Because I like to say those words. They're nice words!
Me: Not really! And they get you in trouble. Do you like to get in trouble?
Theo: No. Nikolas likes to get in trouble!
Ah, a final attempt to weasel out of trouble! Shift the focus to your cousin, Nikolas! Clever, clever. Except that I happen to know full well that Nikolas actually doesn't particularly like to get in trouble. Theo, on the other hand...well, he likes to stir the pot. :-)
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