he is full of it!

Mitchell is almost 8 years old and curious about "swear words." He is very interested in these lovely words that he is not supposed to use but other people sometimes do - not us of course, but some people. We tell him they are rude, or inappropriate; that people can be offended by them. We even tried a friend's approach, saying that people use swear words when they are not smart enough to think of something else to say. He also wants to know what they mean exactly... but they are often not easy to explain. And of course sometimes he tries one out, probably just to see what kind of reaction he gets. So today, when he was being silly, I rolled my eyes at him, and he said very matter-of-factly "I know. I'm made of shit." I wasn't angry with him for saying it; we figure too much of a reaction will increase the likelihood of hearing it again. But I was taken aback and not quite sure what he meant. I just looked at him for a minute, until it hit me: "Ahhhhh, you mean 'I'm full of shit!'"