Driving yesterday. Someone ahead of me is having a hard time staying in their lane.
Me (under my breath): “What the fuck…”
Ian: “What the fuck…”
(damn, he wasn’t supposed to hear that, especially from the back seat)
Me: Ian, you shouldn’t say “fuck”. It’s not a word for kids.
Ian: What does it mean, dad?
Me: It’s kind of like shit, Ian.
Ian: Ok, how about “What the ug…”
Me: That works.
{ 2007 06 14 }
bine
| 14-Jun-07 at 7:19 am | Permalink
your ian is hilarious. i’m amazed that he just accepts “you shouldn’t say that” if you just said it. i think “that’s not a word for kids” would have made me say it all the time.
my parents never tried hard to keep me from cursing. i think their not forbidding it strictly made it less interesting to do it. i knew i wasn’t supposed to curse because it was rude and misbehaved. if one of us at home accidentally said “shit”, someone else would inevitably say “don’t say ‘shit’, it fucks up your behaviour.” we’d all smile weakly about the standard joke and continue. i still don’t curse a lot, and “shit” is about the worst word i ever use.
a friend of mine couldn’t get the fact that there are words only for adults through to his little daughter. she simply didn’t accept it. so he explained to her that you’re only allowed to say shit once a week for every year you’re old. she swallowed that, and explained it to all her friends as well. that story cracked me up.
jase
| 14-Jun-07 at 8:22 am | Permalink
Ian is very much my people-pleaser. So it’s no surprise that he doesn’t say it if I tell him not to. Not that he doesn’t misbehave sometimes (often). Alyssa is much more defiant and will challenge everything including swearing (even Spanish swear words)
Once a week story - hilarious!
Missy
| 14-Jun-07 at 9:03 am | Permalink
WTU?
Heh.
My kids have always accepted that there are things for kids and things for adults–even words. Mark knows there are ‘bad’ words and ‘grown up’ words–and he’ll chastise his older brothers if he hears them using them. They have such a strong sense of justice at that age.
I don’t think my older guys swear excessively. I don’t really need to police them anymore. Well, in any case, they’ve learned not to do it around mom, so they’ve learned there is a right time and a wrong time, right?
thordora
| 14-Jun-07 at 9:47 am | Permalink
ah yes, the F-Bomb.
Mine like to use it occasionally cause Daddy NEVER watches his mouth. Although mofo coming from a 3 year old is funny…
venessa
| 14-Jun-07 at 7:31 pm | Permalink
I loved the first ug, but this is even better!
karrie
| 15-Jun-07 at 5:56 am | Permalink
You mean it is wrong that Max pipes up with
“Stay in your own lane, you stupid motherfucking cunt!”
(He *does* live in the land of Masshole drivers, after all…..)
jase
| 15-Jun-07 at 6:33 am | Permalink
Karrie - I can only aspire to have my kids aspire to the level of Max’s, uh, vocabulary. No wonder you’re going to be road-tripping with him. It must be a laugh a minute.