Thalia came home last week informing us that Poop is now a bad word. Or so say her preschool teachers.

RIP the poop joke. Its passing is sad and untimely, but not altogether unexpected.

What can I say, we had a good run while we can, what with Thalia’s President Poopyhead baby shirt, and Nate teaching her songs in which he substitutes the word Poop for pretty much anything. We try are trying not to be sad, but instead to honor its memory and to be grateful for the time we did have together.

Nate is certainly in the denial phase, as he continues to defy reason and invoke Poop’s name. I’m hoping he’ll come around soon for the good of the family.

The most difficult part of this, however, may be the imminent departure from our lives of Poop’s cousins, Fart and Butt, who no doubt are soon to follow. (It always happens in threes, right?) Sage may be the one to take this news the hardest, she being fond of telling strangers on the street that Butt is her favorite word. Fortunately, toddlers are resilient. I have confidence that, in time, she will come to forget Butt and learn to love again.

And now, you are welcome to mediate silently for one minute.