Wankie Tankie*

I think one of the hardest parts of parenting is keeping a straight face when your kids unintentionally say something they don’t understand.

I’m usually pretty good at it.

Tonight I was not.

When H was a baby, he was also quite large. His nickname is “Hank”, and he quickly became known as Hank the Tank. It stuck, and we often still use it or the spin off, Hankie Tankie.

As the dinner table tonight, S was commenting on how the short forms of P’s and W’s names rhyme. Not wanting H to be left out, she decided to make a new nickname for W that could rhyme with him.

S: “W is a big baby like H was! We called H ‘Hank the Tank’, so maybe we can think of something like that for W!”

M: “Any ideas?”

S: “Hmmm… What about Wank? Wank the Tank?”

…I almost choked on my potato. I started to giggle, and then she wanted to know what was wrong with Wank, which made me laugh harder.

With laugh tears rolling down my cheeks, I gently explained why “Wank” might not be an appropriate choice. Horrified, she agreed.

P was not quite ready to give it up, and began chanting “WANKIE TANKIE” over and over.

I really tried to hold it together, but I was done. I laughed so hard I couldn’t even speak.

I’m really hoping that this doesn’t stick… poor W.