Let this be a lesson

Scott was singing along to Whitney Houston's, "How Will I Know?" tonight in the car.

I was silent ... but desperate to change the station.

"I'm wondering if my dad is the one who turned me on to Whitney Houston?" he says, taking a break when Whitney hit one of those annoying high notes.

"No, he didn't. Your dad likes good music ... he likes Tom Petty, not Whitney Houston!"

"What? You don't like Whitney Houston? This is an awesome song!""

"No, it's not. It's horrible and repetitive and these are completely vapid lyrics."

Will, previously so silent I suspected him of sleeping, pipes up with this gem:

"Mommy! Let this be a lesson to you ... don't EVER say the word 'stupid.'"

I couldn't see him because it was dark in the van, but I'm pretty certain his little four-year-old finger was shaking in my direction.

"She didn't say 'stupid', she said 'vapid.'" Scott said in my defense.

"Well, then, let this be a lesson to you ... don't EVER say the words 'stupid' or 'vapid'."

When I had kids, I knew that I'd have to curb some of the more colorful words in my vocabulary, but those were not the words that I thought I'd get in trouble for saying. Another lesson learned.