Kids pick up on every single little thing you say. Everyone knows that. Whether that means they watch what they say in front of kids, well, that’s a different story. Actually, that’s a story I’ve written about before. When they do say words they shouldn’t, it’s important to teach them that the word is bad, wrong, something they shouldn’t say. Yeah, I mean, eventually they’ll say them, but hopefully that is years down the road.

Anytime Sophia says a word she knows she shouldn’t be saying, like dammit or shut up, she immediately knows what is going to come out of our mouths: “We don’t say that, it’s a bad word.” Sometimes, she’ll even preempt us and tell us we don’t say shut up, or we don’t say dammit. Hey, at least she knows she shouldn’t be saying them.

BUT, that has put me into this habit of saying “we don’t say that, it’s a bad word” anytime I hear the trigger words. Continue reading →