Not a Goat

Whenever I'm typing a memory or telling a story about my childhood, I have to edit myself. My tendency is to type 'kid'. As in 'when we were kids.... ' Just as I get that three letter word typed, I hear my Grandfather's voice say "They are beautiful little girls, not baby goats."

'Kid' is used to describe a child, but it is also the word for a young goat. Grandpa Wager got very angry if he heard people refer to children as kids. Especially if the children being referred to were his only granddaughters. You could call us 'the girls' or 'Kathy's daughters' but don't ever call us 'kids'. I can't count how many people he corrected over this. Anytime he heard someone say 'kid' he would point out that they were referring to a child, not a goat.

I find myself wanting to use 'kids' with my sister's two children. Since I have a niece and a nephew, it's easier to say 'kids' than to spell it out and identify them separately. I usually get the word almost out and I hear that voice. So I've taken to referring to my sister's children as 'the munchkins'. I don't think that would have bothered Grandpa.

When I'm typing, I often type the word kid and then find this force pushing my fingers on the backspace key. Then my fingers type child or children in the space and continue on.

I'm not really sure why Grandpa didn't like the word kid. I know he didn't dislike goats. Grandma always had goats- when they were first married she had a pet goat. Perhaps he just felt it was really disrespectful. Grandma and Grandpa struggled for years to have children. They were married nearly 11 years before my Aunt was born. I think he felt children were a gift, and should not be confused with farm animals.