This picture has nothing to do with the post, as usual. But it sure is cute. :)We don’t swear at our house. I’m not saying that to be all righteous or anything…we just don’t. (Actually, that’s not entirely true – I stubbed my pinkie toe hard a few weeks ago and something may have popped out. It hurt. But it’s not a common practice around here.) I realize some people do and some people don’t… it’s one of those topics that’s totally pointless to get all fired up about because, in my opinion, it’s a personal thing.
But we do say lots of the dorky Mormon substitutes. If you’ve ever talked to Kevin for more than 5 minutes, for example, you’ll quickly find out that he has a slightly irritating love of the word “freakin.’” Freakin’ this, freakin’ that… everything is freakin’ something to him. (Good thing I freakin’ love him, right? Ooo, I'm so cheesy.)
The problem comes when my 2-year old starts repeating these “bad” words. If you don’t think hate is a bad word, wait until you hear innocent little Sadie say it. Suddenly I find myself having an epiphany where I realize why my mom taught us that “shut up” was a swear word (and yes, I totally believed her). Some words that seem totally harmless are completely appalling coming from a 2-year old. Yes, it’s funny when Kevin someone teaches her to announce “we hate the Cougars” at all the Aggie games. But when she translates that to say “I hate daddy,” suddenly it’s not funny anymore.
(In Sadie’s defense, she really doesn’t understand fully what hate means. And she definitely does not hate her daddy.)
Unfortunately, there are also a few words she’s picked up that are seriously funny to hear her say, even though I know I need to be teaching her that it’s also not a nice word. Like “dang it.” She says this all the time lately, and I’m definitely the one to blame. But it’s so gosh dang (see? there I go again) funny when she stops in her tracks, furrows her little brow, and announces, “Oh, dang it! I forget my baby upstairs!” I have to employ serious self-control to keep from cracking a smile as I tell her that’s not a nice word… and then try to remember not to say it myself.
But hey… at least she’s not popping out the real swear words yet, right?
(Yes, I know that day is coming eventually.)
Ah, I remember the first time I heard Cambrie say dang it (the substitute of course) and I couldn't believe it. It doesn't sound so inocent anymore. It's amazing how careful we have to be!
ReplyDeleteI LOVE the picture! And what a funny post...and not so funny :) I better start woking on fixing all my mormon slang now before Kate starts talking!
ReplyDeleteThat is hard. E has been saying "oh my gosh" all the time, which he got from me. But there are so many little kids around here that say the real bad thing that I've been trying to teach him to say "oh my goodness". It's amazing how much they pick up and how funny/unfunny it is hearing it come out of their little mouths!
ReplyDeleteI totally understand your frustration with this. Ryan's word is stupid! He gets mad and starts to call things stupid like "stupid car" (mind you he says this while throwing the car) or "stupid chicken" (when we are trying to make him eat). The other day it was horrible though. We were saying prayer at the dinner table and he was a very tired and ornery boy. In the middle of the prayer he says, "stupid jesus." As you can imagine we were shocked and completely mortified! It is scary what they can pick up!
ReplyDeletehaha! I never realized how much kids learn until spending a day with my nephew and he repeated everything I said. And he's not even my kid, so I guess I've got to be really careful about what I say when I do have my own. :)
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