Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Potty Mouth

Oh the joys of raising children.  Now I'm by no means a perfect mother, a perfect wife or a perfect person.  I use the occasional curse word and occasionally it might be in front of my kids.  We've taught our children that cursing is wrong however when you stub a toe, or someone spills an entire pitcher of lemonade on your freshly cleaned kitchen floor or someone tracks mud onto the carpet these curse words just seem to spill out at times like these and some of us don't realize what we are saying until after we've said it.

We've never had a swearing problem with our oldest.  By nature she wouldn't dare say a curse word because that is her personality.  When our middle child was younger he'd be punished for the occasional curse word that would slip out at home but now that he's older he knows it is wrong.  Now onto our youngest.  He is the child that the occasional curse word will slip out in public and in front of other people.  The strange part is that the curse words that slip from his mouth are NOT the curse words he hears us saying at home!  So then that leads me to believe he's heard it either from one of his siblings or perhaps out with his dad?  At three years old he was with his siblings, cousins and his aunt when they walked through a Wal-Mart parking lot and my son said, "Look at all the f*&#ing people."  Ouch!  Highly inappropriate!!!  He said it so nonchalantly as if it's an everyday vocabulary word.  He got in trouble for that and fortunately has not said THAT word again.  Unfortunately though he's said a few others.

A few months ago my husband told our son that it was time for his nap and our son's reply was, "That's ass."  And just two days ago he was playing in the yard with his sister and two other kids when he walked up to them all and said, "What's up b*tches?"  I was shocked!!  I had to have a good long talk with him about the words he chooses to use and the privileges he will loose because of his behavior.  This child HATES being in trouble and he HATES loosing things so he immediately started saying, "I'm so sorry mommy, I won't swear again!  I promise!"  Now he is so worried about saying a bad word he'll say, "Mom, is 'knife' a bad word?"

I have to think that even a three year old knows which words are bad words and which ones aren't.  It's not like I'm going to give him a list to hang in his room that says...The following words are bad words and should not ever be used. ... Then list all swear words in alphabetical order for him to learn NOT to say!  That would be like saying to your child "Don't watch x-rated movies, here let me show you one so you know what they look like."

Kids grow and parents learn and someday our kids are going to curse all they want and we can't do anything about it and then they'll have their own children to deal with!

There ought to be a room in every house to swear in. It's dangerous to have to repress an emotion like that.
        — Mark Twain

5 comments:

  1. When he was riding with us to our house we had someone in front of us going slow and he said "f@#king move people" and he knew how to use it -the kids didnt know what to do- i wanted to laugh sooooo bad!

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  2. I understand your predicament. Cursing is not a part of my everyday vocabulary either but my husband is,specially when he's driving and the two pair of little ears are behind him.Its really hard but as long as they know that it is bad, they get rid of it on their own.
    Btw,I'm visiting you thru UBp and I'm your latest follower thru GFC.

    My UBP 2011

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  3. I LOVE that Mark Twain quote. I have never heard that before.
    My husband has a terrible potty mouth. He has struggled to get control of it. Luckily only one of the kids picked up the habit. And that kid didn't mind getting into trouble for it!
    Good luck with your little potty mouth!!

    (Nice to meet you from the blog party!)

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  4. Stopping by via the UBP to say hello.
    Have a great day!
    POSH
    http://poshonabudget.com/2011/04/happy-hump-day.html

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  5. Hey! just stoppin by for the blog party. LOVE your blog and are proud to say we are your newest followers and {blog} friends. We'd love for you to come check out our new blog and be our newest follower and {blog} friend as well..much love
    trulie-scrumptious.blogspot.com
    mitchandroz.blogspot.com (family blog)

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