jasper, and the 'pot de gros mots'

when i was a girl we had a huge mexican pottery piggy bank named jasper. he was gorgeous - about 10 inches tall, very round, painted white with raised colorful curly cues, tender black eyes, an arched handle on top of his back and a nice wide slot for money... but if you wanted to get any out, you had to turn him upside down and jiggle a butter knife around in the slot. jasper lived in the half-bath in the hallway off the living room, and was our cuss jar. anyone who said a curse word in our house would hear a taunting "oooh!!! NICkel!!!" meaning you owed jasper 5 cents for being a potty mouth.

my dad apparently didnt realize the importance of jasper, and one afternoon said - "man, this pig is heavy! i wonder how much money is in there?" so went to the garage with jasper in his right hand and a baseball bat in his left took a huge swing and bashed open our beloved jasper. claire was in the garage already, doing whatever, and i was coming into the garage via the hallway. i got there just in time to see my little fat friend get pulverized, and me and my sister screamed, cried and fussed at our dad for being so brash. he was genuinely sorry, but we could never replace the pig. i cannot remember how much money was in there, but it was alot.. one of my mom's boyfriends put a $20 bill in there once so he could cuss whenever he wanted.

now that i am an adult, and have to start watching my cussin' for the kid .. we are starting a "pot de gros mots" (pronounced ~po duh grow mows~... it rhymes, see) .. so far it's a mayonnaise jar with a marker and masking tape label, but i have dreams that one day i'll find a truly one-of-a-kind piggy bank that can be our family friend. it already has about a dollar-fiddy in it!