NOOB!

My 8th grade daughter and I just returned from a four day trip to Washington DC with her class.  It was fabulous - we saw about a million historical sites and learned more than this old girl could absorb.  Our tour guide was a 65-year-old dynamo who walked faster than most of us and was comical,  yet demanded respect at the same time.  It was an amazing trip, full of memories and information.  None of us will ever forget it.

But all that time with 8th graders begins to change a person.  Take for instance, a fun word some of the boys like to use:  noob.  For reasons that are impossible for me to explain to you, I find this word HILARIOUS.  Every time I heard it, I cracked up.  I couldn't help myself.  While watching Frozen on the long bus ride to DC, one of the boys responded to the (über-emotional) line "Do you wanna build a snowman?"  with:  "She doesn't want to build a snowman with you, you noob!!".  Insert near-hysteria from mom.  My daughter was probably humiliated multiple times.

So at home, it is possible I have inserted this word a few times since our homecoming yesterday.  And since all these little children near me look to me as a role model, you can imagine what has occurred.  A wild influx of the word, especially with my 4-year-old daughter.  It is simultaneously horrifying and hilarious to me, coming out of her sweet little mouth.   Instead of reprimanding her, as I most certainly ought, I am laughing so hard I am in tears.  This cannot be a good example of quality parenting.

I'll probably have to blog next week about the drastic measures I am taking to eradicate the word from our vocabulary.