The couple sat eating breakfast with their eight year old.

“Daddy, what should I do if he hits me again?”

“Honey,” the mother said, cutting-in. “Remember, in this house we don’t use the mommy and daddy words. It’s John,” she said, pointing at her spouse. “And Linda,” she said, pointing at herself.

“But what do I do?” the child said.

“Just go tell an adult, sweet boy,” the dad replied.

“But what if he sits on me like last time so I can’t?”

“Rae is a girl now,” the mother said. “We use ‘her’ when talking about Rae.”

“Can I push him? Or hit him back?”

The boy looked back and forth at his parents while his mother looked worriedly at her spouse.

“I don’t know,” said the dad, tossing his napkin and leaving the table. “I just don’t know.”

Finis