a duck and run moment

Last Thursday afternoon, the kids and I went on a walk around the neighborhood. As we were nearing the end of our walk, we spotted an older lady walking toward us. Nathan commented that there was a lady walking and I acknowledged his comment. As we got a little closer, Nathan started another comment. I just knew what was likely to come out of his mouth and quickly tried to stop him. Since we were getting within earshot of the lady, I tried to be discrete in my attempt. As you can probably guess, I failed. Next thing I knew, out of Nathan's mouth comes a very innocent statement of a logical observation..."Mommy, maybe that lady is walking because she wants to exercise because she's fat." Sudden embarrassment for Mommy. By this time, we were about to pass the lady and I gave a polite "Hello" as did she. You could tell from our expressions, however, that I was embarrassed and she knew what had been said...but neither of us had to verbally acknowledge it. Thank goodness for that! Once we got out of earshot, I explained to Nathan that he shouldn't say anything about people being fat when they could hear. I acknowledged that he was correct, but explained that nobody wants anybody else to say that they are fat. He didn't really understand. To him, it's just a fact. Some people are fat. No big deal. I think...I hope...that he at least got the point and will be more discrete next time. Here's to hoping!