That is so NOT what I meant

Yesterday was a crisp autumn day. The temperature was just shy of the 50 degree mark, and the breeze was enough to penetrate my thick wool sweater as we stood on the sidelines at the kid's soccer games. The Boy was the first to play his game, so 2x4, The Girl, and I were on the 'parents' side of the field offering up encouragement to the team and laughing at the minimal attention The Boy was paying to the game.

We're a family of jokesters. We make jokes about random things that most bystanders would either; not find funny, find totally inappropriate out of context, or simply would not get. That being the case, when I saw a woman across the field carrying a child that was wearing a black hoody sweatshirt that was 2 sizes too big, making his arms look all gangly and making his back side appear very similar to the back side of a chimpanzee, I said to my family (as a joke!) "Look, that lady is carrying monkey!" Now, keep in mind all I could see of this child was the back of his oversized hoody, hood UP.

Neither 2x4 or The Girl laughed. In fact, 2x4 got pretty serious and stated, "You better be careful." What? So I explained the rather obvious long sleeve, monkey arm looking characteristics...and he remained silent with, that look. You know the look, the "I'm not saying anymore, figure it out on your own" look. Infuriating. Next, The Girl begins to explain to me that the woman carrying the child is the mother of a boy on the team. The African-American boy on the team, and that he and his little brother are adopted.

The light bulb went on.

Good Lord, the baby is African-American.

Crap.

I so didn't mean it as a racial slur. The woman was WHITE. All I saw of the baby was a sweatshirt!

Crap.

There is no getting this king sized foot out of my mouth.

Crap.