The Kids with Copernicus, the Homicidal Monkey
So I'm at the Bloggess' reading at Blue Willow Bookstore on Tuesday night for her new book, "Let's Pretend This Never Happened" and my niece and the kids went with me. The kids were so excited when they saw that Copernicus had made the trip too so I took this picture of them.
A guy and a girl that worked at the shop were cracking up at their antics and because they knew who Copernicus was. I told them that yes I let them read The Bloggess sometimes, because I'm a bad mother like that, but I figure they will exposed to things anyway in life. They agreed and while I clicked the picture I heard them laughing at how silly my children are and I overheard one of them say that when they see kids with that kind of sense of humor it gives them hope for the future. Awww!!
I thought at first that they would hear Jenny read but as it turned out the reading was outside and only my daughter went outside with me to hear her for a few minutes. She cracked up loudly the whole time and people kept turning and looking at us because yes, my daughter is loud like me. Go figure! The kids then spent the rest of the time inside looking at children's books while I waited forever to get my book signed (yes that many people showed up to hear the Bloggess)
The next day we had a parent-teacher-principal conference. Afterwards I asked Seth to tell the teacher and assistant principal what we did the day before. I'm all thinking that it will make me sound like a great mother that I take my kids to hear authors read. (never mind that Jenny uses the F word a lot)
He told them that we went to a reading and I pulled up this picture on my phone. Then he tells them that he had seen Copernicus and they were confused and said that Copernicus had died a long time ago. So he clarified that Copernicus was a "homicidal monkey."
At that point they both looked at me with concern in their eyes and I knew then that they knew that yes, I am the problem, because I expose children to inappropriate things. I felt like saying, "Don't mind us, we'll be leaving now." I gathered up Seth and we ran out of there.
There's a reason why my kids have a unique sense of humor. When my daughter asked me today what was my favorite word my reply as I drifted off to sleep was, "Macabre."