Thursday, October 23, 2014

When bad words fly

Anyone else watch Modern Family?

Remember the episode where Lily says "fu-k" and Cam laughs? Then he and Mitchell have a chat and agree that they must address this word in all seriousness..and then she says it again and Cam can't contain himself?

Yeah.

That'd be me.

A couple of weeks ago, Nick swore he heard Sal utter profanity in a phrase. He's very verbal, but some of his words are still indistinguishable from another. I chalked it up to that. 

And then...riding in my dad's truck last weekend, he says it again. But did I really hear what I thought I just heard?

I texted NZ who wasn't with us on the trip, and he agreed, that's what he heard the week before. At that point I did nothing about it because I wasn't absolutely sure of what I heard and it definitely wasn't in context.

Fast forward to today.


While trying to rush and put shoes on to go help his grandma feed the horse, he had two dogs licking his face and making the task of putting on his shoes very difficult. He pushed the dogs away, and they came back. Frustrated, he yells, "fu-king dammit! Go away dogs". It was as clear as day and no mistaking it.

Used in context.

What's a mom to do?

I immediately turned my head away from him and willed back laughter and my smile and thought " Did he just say that? " I got myself together but it was realllllly hard not to laugh like Cam does in the swear word episode.

I told him that he can't say that phrase even though he might hear adults say it sometimes. I suggested a few alternatives for when he feels frustrated, and I'm hoping they stick. Looking back, maybe I should've ignored it as we've been doing, but since I've addressed it, there's no going back. 

Here's to hoping he doesn't let it slips somewhere wildly inappropriate--like the doctors office or grocery store line. 

And, note to self---they hear EVERYTHING. 

I must now step down from my position as mother of the year.

Anyone else's kids let a bad word or phrase fly? How'd you deal with it?

2 comments:

  1. All I can say is... hahahahahaha. This is crazy!

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  2. Uh.. Yeah. Not exactly mother of the year here, either. After my 3 y/o very conversationally dropped the f-bomb while talking to me, I asked her, calmly, what she'd just said, and she repeated it. It wasn't an angry out burst, just a comment. "Mom, there's a f%*king this in the that." (Not quite a direct quote.) I, calmly, of course, told her it wasn't a very nice word, and it would be better if she didn't use it. She seemed good with that. Fast fwd an hour or so, and she looks up at me and asks, "We shouldn't say god damnit or sh*t, either? They're not nice words?" Sigh. The good news? She's thinking things through and learning! The bad news? She's doing it faster than I am! Weeks later, she has mostly cleaned up her act, as I only ever request she not say those words BC they aren't nice. Except when her apple went bouncing down off her plate to the floor... She said "sonofaBITS". It was adorable and hilarious - i had to run from the room to hide my laughter, and now my entire family and circle of friends says, "sonofaBITS!" when things go awry. The battles... you have to pick them carefully, yk?

    In my defense, because make no mistake, her vocabulary is entirely my fault, I actually was in the US Navy for five years. So there's that.

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