Wednesday, June 18, 2008

A Way With Words

Last week's "Way with Words" posting had to do with a woman passively criticizing the fact that my friend's son was very healthy in size. Clearly any comment on a child's development that comes from a stranger (or a strange family member) is unwelcome, but what if the comment were directed at an undersized baby? My own sister-in-law has encountered this, and so this juevenile fun is for her.

Comment: Oh, my gosh, I've never seen such a small 3 year old!

What You Want To Say: And I've never seen such a large 47 year old! (Be sure to add a decade to the speaker's apparent age)

What You Could Say: I know...he has an amazing metabolism, but the doctor said it will slow with age....as you obviously know firsthand.

What You Should Say: Yep, he's our little athlete! I just hope he'll give the other kids a little chance to keep up.