Sticks and Stones

We've all heard it: ". . .sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me. . ."

It's not true!  Words have the power to wound!  My instruction manual that came with the birth of the boys made no mention of this.  Nothing in the extended warranty either.  I don't remember any of my baby books mentioning the developmental stage of "seething ball of rage"!

Language has power, and my pre-adolescent wields a serrated edge lately!

Jonah has started calling his brother, "Tubby, Tubby, Teletubby."  We've tried to ignore it.  Doesn't work.  Why?  Because he gets a reaction from his brother. 

I don't think of myself as particularly thin-skinned.   I can brush off most of what I hear from the boys when they are feeling sulky or scornful.  However, one of the more recent zingers packed a punch!  It went something like this,
". . . and you call yourself a mom . .  you are NOT my so-called mom!  I was adopted!"

I think I burst out laughing.  Or was rendered speechless with shock.

To be fair, I had some choice things to say about my own parents when I was a teenager.  Ah, the righteous scorn of a child who knows so much more than the clueless parents. . . I guess this is payback.

I am completely THRILLED that Jonah is choosing words over fists and I have to be grateful about this.  There is a tiny part of me that secretly LOVES the glimpses of quick wit, subtle sarcasm and irony that Jonah both understands and uses.  Because language is power! 

Let's hope that he will learn to wield it well and one day stop slaying his family with his words.