At least it wasn't an f-bomb

The whispers started on Monday morning.
There was talk of it on the bus.
It got lost in the bustle of dinner and my arrival home on Monday evening.

But today, after school, out it came.

"Mom, do you know what an ass-halt is?"

It's a good thing I was prepared from Monday.
Monday one of his classmates came in from recess and tattled to another kid's mom that her son said asshole on the playground. I was just waiting for it to (no pun intended - eew) trickle down.

Monday night there was some whispering about someone saying it on the bus, but we shushed it in front of Bitty Girl and it didn't come up again. She already says poopy butt and butt head - I couldn't tolerate more from a 2 1/2 yr old.

So, you are asking yourself, how did I react to this question? He only gave me about 2 seconds to respond before he told me it was a butt hole.

My response?
Dude, if you're going to say it, say it right.

I told him that it was ass-HOLE, and that ass was another word for your bum, so it was really talking about a butt hole. And if you called someone an asshole that it meant you thought they were really not nice or a jerk. And it wasn't a nice word and that he would get in trouble wherever he used it. Especially at school or around his sister. So I didn't want to hear it.

It was inevitable.
My dad got his mouth washed out with soap when he was a kid for saying, "I can see your asshole" when his sister bent down to pick something up.

And the much-retold story from my mom's childhood was my grandma saying, "Must you say asshole? Can't you just say ASS?"