Skank Alert

Call me conservative, call me a prude but I just have my own values and morals I adhere to.

We were coming home from the mall: the mother-in-law, three daughters and two nieces. The cousins rarely get together but when they do, its mayhem and chaos but deep down inside, they yearn for these times to be together. Yes, family politics. I don't get on with the sister-in-law as we have subtle differences in child rearing.

While I am driving in this pre-Christmas mess, my niece announces from the back seat of the van: "Yeah, and I am getting a bellyring". For some reason, she looks straight at me. I don't know what monster inside me surfaced but I erupted. I looked in the rear view mirror and yelled out, "Only skanks gets belly rings!!" She looked back at me in horror.

Her younger sister (7 yrs old) inquired, "What is a skank?"

Immediately my daughters went into salvation mode. The older twin jumped in, "My mom said skunk not skank."

The older niece made a face at me and replied back emphatically, "I am NOT A SKANK."

Could I shut my mouth? Of course not! "You will be one if you get a bellyring."

It was like a large freight train trying to stop. I was slowing down but not in time. The mother-in-law hit my arm ...she knew this would go back to my sister-in-law.

I didn't care. I knew she was challenging me and I am tired of being politically correct. So, REPORT ME. In a society where the children rule the parents, (and yes, this is my opinion of the kids today), I don't give two sh***.

Once a skank, always a skank...