cusswords

My son’s first bad word was because of me. Which, might I add, was completely unexpected. If you’ve ever met his Grammy or his Daddy-O, you would have thought for sure one of them would have taken that win. Untamable. Trucker. Mouths.   

And because I’m sure I’ll never hear the end of it, I own it. Table for one, I am the guilty party.  I was the first one to cuss and be caught. And by caught, I mean over, and over, and over. I couldn’t believe he was so good at saying D-Bag!  I mean, the D part is actually quite tricky to say, yeah? And what’s worse, he continued repeating it in front of the person about whom I had used this fine noun*. Luckily, only Mommy could translate the toddler talk, and I wasn’t about to play interpreter on this one.  

So, yeah, toddlers and cussing. Is it inappropriate to cuss in front of small children? Undoubtedly, yes. Am I gonna be the one to tell you how to behave in front of my children? Negative. (And I believe you will see me say ‘no’ long before you ever have to hear me say it.)  Sure, they’re my kids, but I’m the one choosing to hang out with you. I’m the one that drove them to where you are, and I’m going along with/creating the plans. I wouldn’t be around you if I didn’t approve of your manners and dialect around my kiddos.  

Truth be told, I don’t mind that my children occasionally hear cuss words. Because let’s face it, they’re going to hear plenty of cuss words throughout their childhood. The cuss words won’t just come from Mommy when she is in one of her road rage-itudes, or when she has dropped yet another thing on the kitchen floor. You know, the times when they will be expecting unfit language. It would be sweet if there would come a day when you could say, ‘Ok, I think you’re finally of age that I can start cussing around you again,’ but that’s just not gonna happen.  

It’s a natural thing for most adults, and for me, it’s often the only word/statement that describes my current state of mind and/or makes me instantaneously feel better. The only thing I would prefer when it comes to cussing is that our friends learn the technique of how to slip it into a conversation without acknowledging it, rather then make a loud gasp followed-up by an apology. If it just happens in the flow, my kids are far less likely to want to repeat the word and make a big deal out of it.

*Incase you were concerned, The D-bag is a very endearing friend who knows all about ‘The Incident.’  And just so I’m not misunderstood, I wasn’t calling him a D-bag, but rather describing the type of car he was driving at the time.

Loren McEllin
Lo is the Founder + Chief Innovation Officer of Trotting with Tots, a local stroller-toting mama tribe. When not scoping out new trails and neighborhoods to explore with the running group, she spends her time cooking up random vegan concoctions, inflicting pain on friends with her waxing skills, putzing around on her Cricut machine, inventing some new house project for her husband, and/or drinking wine while watching the latest episode of Intervention. Lo is married to her very own Magic Mike, whom she met on an airplane, and is lackey Mom to two munchkins (Gage + Gemma), and an allergy-ridden pup (Killian). She loves the color yellow, the sound of high heels on asphalt and gargantuan wind chimes.

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