I Don’t Mean To Be Critical

On Sunday we spent the afternoon with two of my former students and current friends, Kevin and Christina. It’s always fun to watch our kids interacting with adults, and this time was no different. After lunch, Ben took Christina up to his room to show her his latest Lego creation. He was explaining to her some of the finer points of building cranes, when he paused and looked at her with a very serious look on his face.

Ben at the beach

“I don’t mean to be critical,” he said, “but I just farted.”

Christina could barely contain her laughter.

We’re not sure where he picked up that expression, but we think he meant to say “crude.”

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7 Responses to I Don’t Mean To Be Critical

  1. On the way home we had a debate as to what Ben was trying to say with the word “critical.” Christina believes that he meant to say ‘crude’. I think that perhaps Ben used ‘I don’t mean to be critical’ because it is a phrase adults use to qualify their immediate next statement – a caveat if you will. Regardless of the intended use, it was hilarious. Your kids always know just what to say to make us laugh.
    kevin

  2. Dennis says:

    Perhaps he was indirectly inviting a critique of his flatulence?

  3. Dad says:

    Now here’s a glorious personification of another recent “word”,
    winsome.

  4. Aunt Ginny says:

    How nice for Ben to have this immortalized on the web so that future employers and admirers can see his early cleverness in language!

  5. Karl says:

    Ginny, I really struggle over whether or not to make this sort of thing public by posting it on my blog. Future employers and admirers might appreciate the anecdote, but I wonder how Ben will feel about it when he’s 15. I hope that he’ll be able to see the humor in it, as well as the love in which it’s framed.

  6. Drew MacDougall says:

    Perhaps Ben is a perfectionist, and his non-verbal noises were signifying his own feelings about what he had created with Legos. You could say he’s like the artist/genius who does not appreciate his own talent.

  7. Debbi says:

    Just face it, he takes after his Uncle Dean! Karl, you really must keep these blog entries to hold over his head when he is 15, or to show his first girlfriend!

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