Kids!  You love them but you never really know what will come out of their truth spewing, even when the truth hurts, mouths.  They are mocking birds, repeating just what you do not want them to repeat. They are givers of new perspective.  Kid’s brains are swirling, churning, just waiting to say the perfectly right thing to embarrass their parents at the perfectly wrong time.  On more than one occasion I’ve felt the embarrassing sting in my bright red cheeks as my kids did just that.

My kids are blessed with the gift of gab.  They never meet a stranger, much like my dad and me.  On more than one occasion people have told me how my child or children brightened their day.  Proud mama moment!  Then there are those times when their curiosity, innocent childlike curiosity, leads them to ask the “hard” or should I say embarrassing questions.

We were standing in the busy check out line in one of those, “buy everything in one stop” stores.  To pass the time my son started up a conversation with the woman behind us in line.  My son started off with the usual stories he tells someone he just met.  All of a sudden the conversation headed in another direction.  There I stood, helpless to stop it.  All I could do was stand and listen as the words, “Are you having a baby?” fell one by one out of his mouth.  After a brief pause she chuckled, “Oh!  I’m not having a baby.”  At that moment, I wished I could crawl behind one of the cashiers or, better yet, vanish into thin air.  No such luck.  Thankfully the woman was very gracious and smiled through it all.  I could feel the sting of embarrassment in my cheeks and knew they must be redder than a stop light.  After we left the store I had a brief talk with my kids about when it is appropriate to ask a woman if she’s having a baby.  I told them it’s only OK if you know for sure she is pregnant.  Actually, scratch that, don’t EVER ask!

Apparently those words did not sink in where I was concerned.  It was one of those Sunday mornings where I just couldn’t quite figure out what to wear.  Half my wardrobe lay on my bed, tried on and discarded.  I couldn’t find anything I felt comfortable wearing.  I finally dug a dress out of my closet, put it on and was looking in the full length mirror in our hall to make sure it didn’t look too bad.  My daughter came out of her room as I was examining my attire and she offered her solicited advice.  She’s eight and has more fashion sense than I’ve ever had.  After she finished imparting her words of fashion wisdom to me, she patted my belly and said, “Mom, are you sure you’re not having a baby.”  I’m not sure what emotion was on my face but I tried to hide my shock and deflated ego so she didn’t know she’d hurt my feelings.  I still don’t know why she asked me that dreaded question.  I know she wasn’t trying to be mean.  Maybe she asked because she and her brother have been asking for a baby sibling (ain’t happening).  Maybe she didn’t have the heart to tell me the dress didn’t look all that great and this was her way of letting me down easy.  No matter, I didn’t have time to stand and ponder what was bouncing around in my eight year old’s head.  I rushed back to my closet and grabbed another dress to wear to church that day.  I’m still a little self conscious when I wear that dress.

I love my kids and absolutely adore them for their honesty and truthfulness…most of the time.  They really are great kids and have a such a positive outlook on life.  We teach them to share their positive outlook, to be kind and honest.  After all honesty is always the best policy, right?  Well, at this moment, I can think of one good exception to that rule.