It’s not like we use a LOT of bad language around here. We cleaned up our act when Ellyn was around 3 or so and she called my brother Kurt a very bad name. [in Ellyn’s defense, Kurt was teasing her and the name she called him was fairly accurate, but that is neither here nor there] I will admit that since our girls have flown the nest, and we don’t have to set a good example on a daily basis, our standards may have slipped a bit. But now that Ellyn and Jason have spawned a little tape recorder, with another one coming up through the ranks, they are concerned about the utterances Mark might bring forth in a public setting, say in Sunday School. Therefore, we all have to be on guard about how we express ourselves these days.
I was a Sunday School teacher for a good many years and I have heard quite a few unexpected and shall we say, unusual things come out of kids’ mouths. While it was sometimes disconcerting, I was always a little relieved frankly, because I figured it distracted people from things like Ellyn pulling her dress up over her head while singing in children’s choir [she was 18 when she did this.][not really!][she was 4] or Lauren’s replies to some of Pastor Jim’s questions during the children’s sermon. [Pastor Jim, in an effort to help the kids appreciate their Mom’s efforts asks – “So what does your Mom do around your house?” Lauren: “She likes to take naps.” and just when I thought that would be the worst of it that day, her hand shot up so she could add: “and she likes to drink wine!”]
Not only did I teach Sunday School, I was the Sunday School Superintendent, and now people were picturing me swilling down wine, apparently in quantities vast enough that I required frequent naps. I expect they figured I probably just quietly slumped over from time to time. We are not necessarily a tee-totaling church, but imbibing to this extent might make some people question your relationship with Jesus, just a little.
Still, I understand Ellyn and Jason’s concerns, and we want to be allowed to spend time with our grandchildren [though with supervision of course, because of the wine-swilling thing], so we make every effort to comply. We aren’t just talking about your standard 4 letter b-a-d words here of course. We can’t say anyone is s-t-u-p-i-d, even if they are. You can’t tell anyone to stop acting like an a-s-s, even if they are totally behaving like one. Same deal for j-e-r-k, i-d-i-o-t and f-o-o-l. Not even while we are watching the news! Do you know how hard it is to watch the news in an election year when you can’t call anyone an i-d-i-o-t?
Trouble is, though I got straight 100s in spelling from the day I was born, some of us are a little more challenged in this particular skill. Jason told Ellyn to “stop being s-t-u-i-p” the other day. Larry has told me several times to “cut the c-a-r-p”. Not a problem since I don’t like fish. It does look as though Mark may have inherited my spelling ability though. And we are all going to have to switch to pig latin before he decides to demonstrate this valuable abilty to his Sunday School teacher.
I had to laugh. We are in the same boat only it’s with our kids (ages 5 and 8). I’ll never forget the first time I said s-t-u-p-i-d after they were informed that it was a bad word by their Sunday School teacher. Oh my. Ahm! You said a bad word!
Ok I stopped by to tag you and had to get caught up. This is very funny. I have a 5, 7 and 8 year old. I spell alot. And now they can understand. That is always a bummer.
Anyhoo. I tagged you. You have to indulge 6 quirky things about yourself and tag six others. See my blog to get the gist…and the rules.
These things usually annoy me but it was kinda fun.
ROTFL my a-s-s- off!!!
That is so funny! I had a friend with a toddler who was picking up words and we had to clean up our language. It was very hard to get rid of some of the fun ones like s-t-u-p-i-d and etc. We resorted to poopy head though and it kind of stuck. :)
Jenera
Just Me
I’m laughing out loud. And coffee would’ve spurted out my nose if I’d just taken a swig.
I have 5 boys between the ages of 15 and 5. Let’s just say that my 5 yo has picked up some bad habits. His favorite nickname for his big brothers is “you freakin’ idiot”! A work in progress, he is.
Oh I hated it when they learned to spell. This was so funny!
When the kids were little, one came running in, “Daddy! Oliver said the S word!” My hunny about dropped his teeth, when I stepped in and asked, “Mae, what’s the S word?” “Shut up.”
Always fun with small children.
P.S. I gave you a major award this morning. Pop over to my bog to get it. :)
I’m impressed that you are making an effort. My mom is oblivious to the words she is using and that my kids are hanging on her ever word, even if it’s just “stupid”, “hate”, and “jerk”. My mother in law is a sweet lady who cusses when she drops things, she is also rather clumsy.
My mom, aunt, uncles and grandmother didn’t spell things out when they said stuff we shouldn’t have heard, they spoke in German. Their equivalent of swearing is quite silly.
My grandmother told me if I wasn’t careful my son’s first words were going to be “that sucks.” I had a fondness for the phrase back then I guess. OOPS! And thanks for the comment. I enjoyed reading you.
Thanks for visiting. Koko Kitteh appreciates it too. ;-)
I loved the “having to spell it out” stuff. I will seriously have to do that if I ever become a granny. I get worse as I get older.
My luck, the grand kid will learn to spell early like my daughter did and I will still be busted.
This reminds me of when my son was in first grade and they were working on rhyming words with duck. He raised his hand and said “I know a word, but I don’t think I should say it.”
Thanks for stopping by!