A little lesson in how we learn value laden language and ideas.

We learn them badly but I'm enjoying how my daughter is letting my 5 yr old grandson explore language and meaning. This little boy is already reading at sixth grade level and one of his favorite things to do is to read the big dictionary. This evening she came up on him reading the dictionary and she asked him what kinds of words he was reading tonight. He told her he was looking up "dirty words" and that he had started with "sex." His reading of the meaning of "sex" in the big dictionary had gotten him to "zygote." Soooo, she visited the notion that sex is not a dirty word nor act and that he just needs to grow up a little to learn more about it. In the meantime, he should understand that it is generally something people like to talk about with some privacy in mind. He became interested in as much of the science as of zygotes that he could grasp. Now my grandchildren know all the parts of the body and have been taught that words can be used for good or bad and offensive words exist. However, not all people find the same words offensive. My smart little boy takes things in stride and his quest for salacious words became a learning experience.

Personally, I'm just waiting for the day when he calls one of his siblings a "zygote."