Disarming the f-bomb
BANTERhated phrases are crap, as in ‘‘That’s crap’’, and holy hell, as in ‘‘I can’t believe teachers at your Catholic primary school would like to hear you say holy hell.’’ T h e n t h e r e ’ s ‘ ‘ f r i c k e n ’ ’ , ‘‘OMG’’, ‘‘that sucks’’, and ‘‘I can’t remember’’.
I’m still not sure our f-man fully understood what he was saying or how bad it was.
And that’s the thing, the parenting books say ‘‘don’t react, just ignore it’’. But I’m sorry, in my book ignoring foul language is a dereliction of duty.
We’ve travelled this road before. Our eldest was about the same age when he discovered he could raise a reaction with a few choice words. His true talent was masking the misdemeanor.
Me: ‘‘How dare you use word.’’
Him: ‘‘Mum, I SHIP with a P!!’’ Yeah right, of course you did. To make matters worse, a combination of parenting-induced stress and sleep deprivation mean it’s often very easy for parents to drop the odd eff or sh word in a moment of weakness.
Be assured nothing escapes the supersonic ears of your kids.
‘‘Mum, Mum, Dad crashed your car,’’ the youngest said.
The oldest added: ‘‘Yeah and he said the eff word.’’
Shame the parenting books don’t prescribe a punishment for a wayward dad.
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