The young mom, obviously exasperated at her 5-year-old son, growled at him, “¡Dile perdón, cabrón!”

{Loose translation: “Tell him excuse me, you little turd!”}

The boy had danced and pranced past me, doing a quick pirouette as he passed, missing me by a millimeter. Though I was holding several fragile items, I didn’t budge as he danced around me.

As the mom grouched at him, the precocious little boy didn’t miss a beat.

“¡Perdón, cabrón!” He said.

The mom immediately froze and made eye contact with me.

I smiled and, with the intent of humorously diffusing the situation, told the boy, “Sí, te dijo, ¿no?”

Loose translation: “Yes, she told you to say it, didn’t she?”}

While I don’t know what damage the boy may have suffered at the hands of his mom once out of my eyesight, I laughed at the universal nature of mischievous boyhood.