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I don't hold back on the swears in front of Kimo either. But I don't do it excessively either. Janet and Samuel disapprove but its my vocabulary

Lena drops a wrench on the balcony and the dropping is the thing that is the clang and the clang is the thing that is the steel on concrete and the steel on concrete is the thing that hurts.

"Shit," she says, and the saying is the thing that is the automatic and the automatic is the thing that is the word that comes when the steel meets the toe and the toe is the thing that is the callused and the callused still hurts when the wrench is the thing that is the fifteen pounds.

Kimo looks up from the maple board and the looking is the thing that is the registering.

"Shit," he says, and the saying is the thing that is the careful and the careful is the thing that is the testing. He says it the way he says every new word — once, cleanly, watching Lena's face for the thing that is the response.

"Yeah," Lena says. "Shit. That's a word Mama uses when something goes wrong. It's not a word for the doctor's office. It's not a word for Ganma. It's a word for when the wrench hits the toe."

"Shit is bad word?" Kimo says.

"Some people think so. Mama doesn't. It's just a word. But some words are for some places and not for others. Like how you wear boots on the site and not on the balcony."

"Boots for site. Shit for balcony," Kimo says. The saying is the thing that is the sorting and the sorting is the thing he does with every category now — words and places and tools and people, each in its column. Lena laughs and the laughing is the thing that is the real.

She calls Janet on Thursday and the calling is the thing that is the weekly and the weekly is the thing that has the update. Kimo is 196 words past two hundred now and the number is the thing Janet writes down and the writing is the thing Janet does in the notebook. Lena tells her about the homonyms and the center of mass and the boxing kinetic chain and Janet is the thing that is the impressed. Then Kimo gets on the phone and the phone is the thing that is the thing he does now without help.

"Hi Ganma," he says. "Kimo learn boxing today. Power chain. Feet, legs, hips, shoulder, arm, fist. Mama drop wrench on toe. Mama say shit. Shit is word for when wrench hit toe. Not for doctor. Not for Ganma. Shit for balcony."

The silence on the phone is the thing that is the Janet. The silence is the thing that is the mother who taught Lena not to say that word and the word is the thing that is now in her grandson's vocabulary and the vocabulary is the thing she tracks in the notebook and the notebook does not have a column for profanity.

"Kimo," Janet says. "That word is not a nice word. Can you try not to say it?"

"Mama say it," Kimo says. "Mama say shit when wrench hit toe. Mama's word. Kimo's word too. Same word, same place. Balcony word."

Lena takes the phone and the taking is the thing that is the knowing — the knowing that Janet is on the other end with the face and the face is the thing that is the disapproval.

"Mom, it's my vocabulary. He hears what I say. I'm not going to filter myself in my own home."

"He's a baby, Lena. He repeats everything."

"He's thirteen months and a hundred and eighty-eight pounds, Mom. He repeats structural engineering and kinetic chains and homonyms. He also repeats 'shit' when I drop a wrench on my toe. I'm not going to pretend I don't swear."

Janet is quiet and the quiet is the thing that is the choosing. The choosing is the thing between arguing and accepting and the accepting is the thing she has been practicing since the site visit and the practicing is the thing that is the hard.

"Fine," Janet says. "But when he says it at the grocery store, you're explaining it."

"He won't say it at the grocery store," Lena says. "He already knows it's a balcony word. He sorted it himself."

Samuel is the Saturday call and the Saturday is the thing that is the phone and the phone is the thing that has the video. Kimo is on the screen and Samuel is on the screen and the screen is the thing that connects the grandfather and the grandson. Kimo tells Samuel about the hockey hip check and the hip check is the thing that is the center of mass and the center of mass is the thing he explains with his hands.

"Gampa, hip check is leverage," Kimo says. "Leverage is hips and back. Like Mama lift wall. Like tackle hold edge. Gampa, when Mama framing, Mama say damn when stud crooked. Damn is word for crooked stud. Shit is word for wrench on toe. Different words, different problems."

Samuel's face does the thing it does — the thing that is the tightening of the jaw and the jaw is the thing that is the Samuel and the Samuel is the thing that is the man who does not swear in front of children. The tightening lasts three seconds and the three seconds is the thing that is the processing and the processing is the thing that ends with the exhale.

"You're going to be a foreman before you're two," Samuel says. The saying is the thing that is the redirect and the redirect is the thing Samuel does when the thing he wants to say and the thing he says are different things. He does not say stop swearing. He does not say that word is not appropriate. He says you're going to be a foreman and the foreman is the thing that is the pride and the pride is the thing that is the cover for the disapproval and the cover is the thing Lena sees through and does not push because the not pushing is the thing that is the peace.

Lena takes the phone. "He's learning, Dad. All of it. The words, the structures, the systems. I'm not going to give him a censored version of the world."

"I know," Samuel says. The saying is the thing that is the two words and the two words are the thing that carry the weight of a father who has decided that the decision is not his to overrule.

"I know you won't."