%$#@ Language

Mini is 9 years old. That means that she’s hanging around other 9ish year olds. And other 9 year olds don’t necessarily have parents that take such an interest in what they watch on the television or hear on the radio as AM and I do, which means they may have more exposure to foul language and then expose Mini to it.

Mini has heard curse words before. She’s even heard them from me. But I try very hard to use more…humorous than offensive words (son of a biscuit, for example.)

When she was younger, maybe 3 or 4, a very funny thing happened. I was driving from Swansboro to Wilmington and had gotten about five miles from home when I realized I left my wallet at home. I uttered a word that I didn’t think Mini heard and coincidentally rhymed with the large truck that was passing by Mini’s window. I turned the car around, got my wallet and carried on with the trip without further incident. Months later, with Mini’s mother and my in-laws in the car with Mini and me, a large truck rolled by Mini’s window. So she thought she’d let everyone in the car know…”Look, that’s a big [insert word that rhymes with, but isn’t, truck]!” Not my best example of parenting, but we’re supposed to learn from each other, right?

The only saving grace from that event is that Mini had no idea what she was saying. She had heard me mumble the word as a large truck rumbled past and connected those dots. She repeated it, thinking it was another word for truck. Interestingly, she’s never made the connection since, even though there weren’t histrionics over it.

The point is this: Kids are going to be exposed to foul language, from their friends or their parents or the television. All we can do is educate them that those words, even if we sometimes use them, are often not the best to use. They can make us appear uneducated and unintelligent at best and rude at worst.

Have you had language problems with your tweens? How did you tackle them? Leave your ideas, questions and suggestions in the comments.