So my 2-year-old daughter Pumpkin is the age where she imitates everything she hears, whether it be from us or TV. She will then repeat these words and phrases ad nauseam, much to her delight.

Imagine my horror when, upon waking this morning, she stood up in her crib and announced, “F is for f–k!”

Naturally, my husband and I were sufficiently alarmed. Where did she learn this? We do not swear at home, let alone in front of her. We don’t put any violent or graphic shows or movies on in front of her. We scratched our heads in consternation. We decided that it must be “fork” that she was trying to say. From then on, we told her every eating utensil was “spoon,” regardless of its function.

When my husband began to feed Pumpkin her lunch, he put on her favorite video, Barney’s ABC Animals. We were soon informed of the source of her newfound knowledge: a little girl on the show joyfully informed Barney the Dinosaur that “F is for Frog!”

Mystery solved.