Jingle Bells....Batman....

I am constantly shocked (not really) by the things Landon tells me he learned at school or from his friends. I remember all the terrible things I learned as a child and probably told my friends too, so I was "kinda" prepared for the school years. I just wasn't expecting it to all happen so early! Times have changed, baby. Times have certainly changed. Last week Landon told me he learned at Toss ball that if you hold up your middle finger, it's like saying all the bad words in the world at once. I have to admit I was holding my breath and was relieved that it wasn't any worse than it was. Then yesterday Landon was checking out a musical book that my southern girlfriend had sent us. The book was a Scooby Doo book and the music playing was Yankee Doodle. Landon started singing a totally different version. It was a really gross version. I won't even tell you what it was. I told him that was disgusting and that I didn't want to hear that song out of his mouth ever again! He told me to relax and that all the kids sing it that way. ( I suppose if I was more of a June Cleaver type I could have used that opportunity to say "Well, if all the kids jump off a cliff are you going to do it too?" I was thinking to myself, "Really? You're eight years old and telling me to relax???" I think I told that to my mom too, but I was at least 15...) Remember singing the Jingle Bells song when you were a kid? The batman version? That was tame. Life is a whole different ball game now folks. I could blame it on the "other kid's and their older siblings" or the t.v. shows that are on nowadays. iCarley, Josh and Drake....etc. But, the truth is, kids are always going to be thinking up gross, naughty, disgusting stuff. Always. Small town. Big town. Doesn't matter. As a Day Care provider, most of my dc kids are not in school yet. I see so much of myself as the way I was, in their parents. Wanting my little boy to be protected from all the bad things in the world for as long as I could. I wish I could tell them it will always be butterflies and bunnies and they will can keep the innocence of a two year old forever. But, it's just impossible. No matter how hard we wish. So, what's a mom to do? If we turn off the t.v. and tell them they can't hang out with this kid or that kid, then yes we are protecting them to an extent. But, on the other hand is it doing more harm than good? Are they going to be picked on because they haven't a clue about life or what the other kids are even talking about? This is a real fear of mine. I went to a "church school" for the first six years of my life. My parents left that particular church and I went to a public school in 7th grade. I was so green!!! I was so socially out of the loop it wasn't funny.  I didn't know any of the "cool" words. I didn't know anything about boys, when all the other girls my age already had several boyfriends under their belt. (When a boy asked me to "go steady" for the first time. I freaked out because I didn't really know what he meant and I told him I wasn't ready to get married. He never spoke to me again. I suppose I was a freak in his mind. Talk about green....)  I didn't know how to dress or act. "The church" didn't allow certain  foods/drinks, no meats, no alcohol, tobbaco, jewelry, (Not even a wedding band!), no dancing and movie theaters and t.v. were also a big no no. I felt so lost. My life was a small circle of church kids, my parents, brother and all our hobby farm animals. I had a good life, but I might as well have been Amish for all my "worldly" experiences. (We weren't.) But, luckily I became friends with a few cool girls and caught on real quick. Then I rebeled. Big time. I made up for all those lost years and gave my parents many, many grey hairs. I swore I would never "shelter" my kids from life like my parents did me. (I do want to say that my parents were wonderful parents, they were just caught up in that church for a time, and didn't know any better. I love them both very much and we have a great relationship. I turned out o.k. after all. I think.) So while I do want Landon to be exposed to the real world, I don't want him to grow up too fast. I want him to look back on his childhood and love every minute of it. Wishful thinking? Where do we draw the line? It's such a fine line. They say that parenting is the hardest job in the world. They got that right.