My oldest son had a writing assignment in class to write formal letters to choice friends in his class. I knew they had these letters to write but I did not read his until last night. They were cute. Some said things like "I am glad you are nice", "You always make me laugh", and "How many sisters and brothers do you have?" The students could each write to whom ever they wanted to in class. One of my sons best friends is in his class. We are good friends with his mom and have known them since the boys were 3 years of age.
Here is what BF's letter said:
Yes, you read right.....wiener.
Translation = wiener.
So, my husband intercepted the letter the afternoon it came home. I heard about it after my son's baseball practice. First of all, for you readers wondering why I am giving this letter attention---it is because my husband told me that little black boys do not need to be writing about other little boys private parts even though it may seem innocent.
This little boy plays on my son's baseball team so we saw him the same day the letter came home. My husband said the more he thought about it,the more he was bothered by the whole letter. This particular boy's father is not in his life and his mother was out of town this week for work. My husband said he really liked the kid and decided this would be a "man learning moment" for our son and his BF.
He told me that he took the both of them over to the side before practice kicked off and talked to them about the letter. (My husband is the coach, so it was easy to hold practice up. Did I tell you he is the man?) He told them that the letter was inappropriate and "little boys should never write or talk about other little boys wieners, ever...period." BF tries to explain his case by telling my husband -- "But Coach, I thought he was holding his wiener." Of course my husband repeated himself...."little boys should never write or talk about other little boys wieners, ever...period." Sometimes no explanation is the best explanation. And this is why I believe our little boys need a constant male figure in their life. The message would not have been the same. My husband made it clear and my son and his BF will probably never write about "wieners" again. To BF's defense, he really was trying to apologize. My son told me later that his feelings were hurt by his BF telling everyone and he later asked him even after the letter if they were still friends. It really was innocent, however my husband's point was well taken.
Little boys should never write or talk about other little boys wieners, ever...period.
Later that evening when my husband was giving me this story he kept using the word "wiener" as if this is what we say in our house. I kept trying to hold back laughter because listening to an almost thirty year old man say "wiener" was kind of funny. Can we teach our kids the correct names to private parts?
I was very appreciative and turned on by his responsiveness to the situation. He was rewarded accordingly.
Now, I am sure you are wondering.....how did the teacher let this slip by? Yeah, we are wondering the same thing.
