Chewy stops the chatter...I wish!

Well, the holidays are over and my mind has been in a bit of a fog. After all the traveling, unwrapping, Christmas party-going, sorting, organizing and putting-away of all things Christmas, I realized I had been suffering from a tremendous 'blog' writer's block. My nightly dialogue (with myself--scary isn't it?!) when I did find a moment to sit at the computer had been something like this,"Should I post pictures of my holiday travels, log all of my adventures or memorable moments on my blog?""Should I write about something funny/sad/happy?" "Should I post about the New Year's resolutions that I haven't even started working towards yet?" Still feeling slightly uninspired to pen anything to paper (or in reality, type something on my computer), I decided to wait until something popped up in my head to log for future reading. After reading one of my friends blog's (thank you Holly!) of an embarrassing moment, I suddenly felt inspired. I decided I would post some very interesting experiences of mine from holiday vacation. No, it's not about sledding in Illinois, watching it snow, eating with family (at countless restaurants), visiting my Great-Aunt Agnes, who at 99 years old is my Grandpa's youngest sister--no, not anything like that. I wanted to post something that is magically found, quite often, between a mother and her children. EMBARRASSMENT!
I had the opportunity of hearing my daughter voice her honest observations on everything in the world around her. (Boy, that's a fancy way of saying it, isn't it?). This past holiday my sweet, dear daughter Ashlyn embarrassed me--BIG TIME! Once, it occurred when we were leaving a favorite eating establishment of mine, 'Steak 'n Shake'. For those of you who are not familiar with this restaurant, it is similar to Fuddruckers (probably not as fancy or good--but it's not a franchise in Texas so I just HAVE to go there when we are up to visit!) Anyhoo (back to my story), as my dad was carrying Ashlyn out of the restaurant, she calmly said 'out loud', "Grandpa, why is there fur in your boogers?" After he and I shushed her, since it was said quite plainly in front of other restaurant patrons, he laughingly replied, "Honey, that's just Grandpa's nose hair." Okay, maybe not so embarrassing (for me!) and slightly cute. But, not so long after...
Flash forward to the bathroom at a nearby Wal-Mart. I am taking Ashlyn for a potty-break before we have to get in the car and travel again from the farm in Missouri to St. Louis. As I am washing up her hands to leave the bathroom, a very large woman comes into the bathroom. As she is walking past us smiling, Ashlyn starts to say, "Mama, she's....", "Mama, she's..." not quite finding the words for what she wants to say. As I rapidly (and in a panic) tried to finish drying her hands before she got out of her mouth what I feared she'd say, the dreaded word came out (and very loudly I might add!). "Mama, she's fat. Mama, she's fat." Cue the dying inside... I was mortified! Luckily the poor woman had just walked into the stall so she wasn't looking at us when Ashlyn said it, but just the same--it was a very awkward moment! I just quickly whisked her out of the bathroom, wished to myself that I could for once be quicker helping her wash her hands, and calmly explained to her that we don't call people 'that word' because it's not a nice word and it may hurt their feelings. She just calmly answered back, "Okay, mama" and went innocently on her way, while I 'm sure that poor woman was crying to herself in the bathroom stall (okay, she may have not been crying, but I'm sure she was hurt!) After I had paced back and forth for awhile outside the bathroom debating whether or not to see if that poor woman was okay, and deciding that that would be a bad idea, I quickly rounded everyone up and booked it out of there! It was a truly embarrassing experience, but I know it is only one of many to come!

Do you ever find yourself in this situation after a very innocent, but embarrassing observation comes out of your child's mouth?