There It Is - The First Curse Word
One day, I came home from Kindergarten, stuck up my middle finger and asked,
"What does this mean?"
My mother made a god-awful face and I knew not to do that again. Until I was in 6th grade and pissed off that Laura Rizzo was making fun of me. But even then I made sure my mother wasn't around.
I grew up hearing cousins, aunts and uncles curse from time to time. Just a whole lot of "Jesus Christs", "Goddamnits," and the like. No "f" words. We were dignified Irish Catholics after all.
I knew not to use these *grown-up words* myself.
And so I don't curse in front of my own children. Oh sure, ocassionally I'll mutter a "Jesus, Mary and Joseph" when stubbing my toe or something. Yes, I converted to Judaism but there's some sayings even I can't block out. Most of the time, I try to model the behavior I expect in my children. Which is why I was a bit surprised the other day to be conveying the following to my husband and mother.
"Youngest was walking away from me," I said, "angry about not getting to play a video game for the nineteenth time that day. He said, 'Great! Now I'm not going to get a better score for the whole damn Spring Break'."
"Wow," Husband said. "Two days with Grandpa and he's already memorizing his favorite sentences. I bet you sh*t a Butter Lamb."
"I just calmly washed his mouth out with soap and explained that eight year-olds don't curse at their parents."
"Yeah," Husband said. "Who does he think he is? A teenager?"
I looked at my mother, waiting patiently for her words of wisdom.
"Well," my mother said, "personally, I can't wait until he gets his own blog. He comes by that mouth honestly after all."
posted by kate @ 6:08 PM
12 comments
12 Comments:
Ah, yes. Always grand when the little darlings wax eloquent. I remember when my daughter was about five. She was angry at her mom (hard to blame her, really), and told her, "I hate you, Mom. And if I ever tell you I love you, I'm lyin'". The little angel.
I remember my daughter watching a Bucsgame back a few years ago when she was only just over two with me. Dilfer tosses one of many INTs for the day when my angelic little one blurts out "Dammit" in the cute yet shocking way that only a toddler could. "What did you say, honey?" I asked thinking my ears played some kind of wild trick on me. She turned and said, all sweet and nice, "Dammit?" So I ask the obvious next question, "Why did you say that?" Now she seemed to get that there could be a problem here so she hurriedly sputters out "Well... You know the guy in white Daddy? The white shirt guy with the ball? He... he was s'posed to throw the ball... throw it to the guy in white over there Daddy... but the other, the red guy, the guy in red... he got the ball stead of the guy in white and... well... dammit." What was I to do? How can I be mad if my two year old not only enjoys football but she knows what an interception is and she knows it's a bad thing. How can I be mad? That's when my wife said "Honey, just don't say that word, OK?" "OK Mommy... GO BUCS!" she said as she turned back to watching the game. I love that kid!
So, what does she think of Gruden?
RR, I feel your pain/joy. In my case when one of my sons say it comes out "dame it!" Does that count?
Kids tend to do what their parents do....so you can either be a good example, or a horrible lesson. Your choice. But you'll find it more and more difficult to conceal your own bad habits and practices from your children as they get older. This is something to ponder upon as a parent.
I don't want my small ones cursing, however, school budget cuts, politics and a game where the Buccaneers were acting like Suck-a-neers would warrant a good "dammit" or "crap".
Well, I for one am teaching America's Utes not to swear (correctly.) We have a teacher named Mr. Shuck, and I tried to tell the young minds that it would be funny to tell people in that class to "Fut the Shuck up! What I said was, you should say, "Shut the #uck up!" They thought it was a lit funnier than Mr. Shuck did.
Sadly, that's a true story!
well, your mum should be observant that these words have never been uttered:
Kurva
Kish m'in toukhes
Dreck
Shtup
Tokhes
Mishugena
Putznasher
Trichen ah furtz
Kaker punum
Schlemiel
Jomandogtu
Pierick
Shvag
Gay k'ken in yam
Faygala
Hmm. If you try to model the behavior you expect from your children, do you expect them to step out on their spouses with others when under the influence? Just curious.
and then there is that rabbit story
When my oldest was three, I learned the lesson of how closely they were listening.
We had just returned my Cape Cod home, late at night, from a weekend trip to upstate NY. As my wife and I struggled to grab bags and the one year old from the car, my daughter, half asleep, went ahead of us and opened the storm door. She let out a shriek, as, in our absence, a daddy-long-legs spider had built a web between the doors, and was at her eye level.
"A cwab", she screamed, "A fawking cwab!"
As hard as it was to keep from dissolving in laughter, we managed until after explaining the difference between crabs and spiders and proper words for little girls. But we have been chuckling about the scene ever since.
I was always careful about my language after that (though not perfect) and she always opens doors cautiously.
Oh God, I love your mother!!
Post a Comment
<< Home