We reap what we sow. The Young Prince has been listening to Tom Lehrer nonstop recently. He's memorized most of the songs to one degree or another.
I don't find this entirely objectionable. I learned a LOT from Tom Lehrer, and I see the kid following suit. He understands what "eight squared" means. He can distinguish between Mozart's stylings and that of Gilbert and Sullivan. He can tell you who started the Bauhaus school of design and he can show you how to genuflect.
But then, there are the social misfitty episodes that come with that.
So there we are at a neighbor's house yesterday for a belated neighborhood Easter egg hunt. One of the other moms makes some vague reference to fighting a Star Wars battle with a "light saver."
"Light SABER," the YP chimes in.
"Shhhh, don't be rude," I say.
"You're right," says Other Mom. "I was halfway between life saver and light saber and got the pronunciation wrong."
"Oh." says the YP. He pauses. "I pronounce everything right."
"Young! Prince!!" I say. "Stop! It!"
"I bet you can't pronounce EVERYTHING," says Other Mom's Son, essentially drowning me out, which is fine. I like seeing kids rise to defend their families.
"Thank you!" I say to Other Son.
The YP thinks for a minute and says, "Well, I can pronounce Oedipus!"
The other kids in attendance look bewildered. I'm pretty sure they all thought it was a nonsense word. The adults all look momentarily horrified. Then Other Mom laughs and says, "Well, as long as you don't know the story..."
"Oh! I know that too!" crows the YP.
Funny how right at that very second I suddenly realized we absolutely had to go to the store and pick up a prescription I had completely forgotten, with apologies to all that clearly someone's iPod playlist was going to be revisited.
Except in retrospect, I feel like I screwed up the whole thing. What's wrong with my kid knowing Greek mythology? I had explained the song in an age-appropriate fashion; sex wasn't really factored into the issue so much as "Sons don't marry their moms." Surely even in today's society the PC police don't have a problem with that being a taboo, right? And that tune is downright catchy, y'all. I absolutely should have schooled the kid harder and faster for smartmouthing and disrespecting a grownup who hadn't done him any harm, but by the same token, I now dearly wish I could have seen the assembled faces if I'd let the kid brass his way through the song and carry it through to "I'd rather marry a duckbilled platypus!" complete with choreography.
Oh, well. I suppose it all balances out. He got bawled out at the store later in the day for not doing what he was told, and then, later still while I was pulling weeds at the top of our driveway, he kept me -- and presumably, the rest of our cul de sac -- entertained with a rousing rendition of Cabaret, with an almost Ethel Merman-like belting out of the line "she was the happiest corpse I'd eeeehhh-verrrrrr seeeeeen."
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