I've had a bit of a quandary in my house with words lately. I'm married to a pastor and we both feel it is important for ourselves and our children not to use certain language in the home. Words termed as "cuss words" weren't an option even before we had kids.
I have a bad habit of using the word "crap." OK, this is not a terrible word but I heard Tyler repeat it recently and it didn't sound pretty. I told myself I need to find a different word to express frustration around the house.
A few weeks ago, we were watching some cartoon (I can't even remember what it was now) and one of the characters said, "Nuts!" I didn't make a conscious effort to start using this word but it certainly was better than what I had been saying. Soon, I found myself using the word "nuts" to replace that other word.
I found myself using the term regularly and was pretty proud of myself that I had found a suitable alternative. Then, I was reprimanded by Tyler. The first time I said it around him, his eyes got very wide and he said, "What did you say Mommy?" I tried explaining myself but it was no use. I was busted. Now, I get a reprimand each time it flies out of my mouth!
If we don't allow any nuts in the home, I guess that includes the word for Tyler. You can't help but laugh at the irony of it all! So I'm stuck again. I need a good nut-free word that expresses frustration that I'm not afraid for my kids to repeat. My mother-in-law suggested "rats" but that word kind of freaks me out. Rats are absolutely disgusting. Any other ideas out there??
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5 comments:
I say shoot, however, it is really close to the bad word. At first I did not like when the kids repeated it. Now we have a basketball set, since Daddy is telling them to shoot the ball, all the time, I do not feel so bad.
That is TOO funny! My kids always crack me up when they say "oh man!". . .don't know if that will work for you! LOL
They say "pickles" on a kids show we sometimes watch - you could try that!
I'm laughing, because we've had very similar conversations in our home. I have been working to get rid of the "crap" word too - because just like you, I didn't like how it sounded coming out of my kids. For awhile I've been saying, "crimony", but I don't really like that one either. I've resorted to just grunting, like "aaaghh!!", but the kids even copy THAT! (Only they do it with SUCH attitude - oh wait, maybe I do too?)
As for "nuts" being a bad word - it SO is in our house too. And actually for our three year old, "butter" is a bad word too. I was talking about adding butter to the mashed potatoes, and he FREAKED out. "Martha can't have butter, mama, Martha can't have butter!!" It took me forever to explain the difference between peanut butter and plain ole butter.
Oh, this is so, so funny to me! I can totally see this happening to me at my house, too.
On a side note, it reminds me of when one brother was explaining to the other brother that he had nuts in his body. THAT was an interesting conversation!!
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