He can still sing all the words to We Will Rock You by Queen

The Bandit is nine-years-old. His primary interests these days are tattling on his sister and swearing. Technically, he’s not allowed to swear, but he’s very interested in pushing the envelope. He was very excited when he was authorized use of the word “hell” when referring to the television show Hell’s Kitchen. Also, when the word “crap” was permitted.

There is a serious double standard going on at the Bright house about cursing. He and his sister are not allowed to do it, but their father and I are experts.

I inform them all the time that life isn’t fair and they should get used to it.

The boy and I were watching the Concert for Valor on HBO and Eminem came on. He strutted around and did his thing. I’ll admit that many times I have no idea what the hell he’s rapping about. His lyrics are indistinct, muffled, mumbling, and slurred. All except for the swear words.

A crystal clear “fucker” wafted across the living room to the beat of rap music.

I looked at the boy. The boy looked at me. His eyebrows rose as if to say, “Hey, listen to that. I feel that word should be permissible since it’s in a song. If I learn the words to that song, I can sing it, right?”

I shook my head in the negative. His eyebrows went back down. No words were spoken. He didn’t even fight with me about it since he knew that was a long shot. Still, I wouldn’t have respected him if he hadn’t given it a shot.

And the negotiations continue.