Shut Up

Every parent is going to have to deal with the time when the kid starts using vulgar language, and every parent has their own standards. For every parent who freaks out when their eighteen-year-old busts out with "drat" or "nerts," there's probably another who doesn't care if the tot talks like Pearl.

Right now, we're dealing with M.'s obsession with the phrase "shut up." He's not allowed to say it, to us or anyone, because, well, it's rude. Plus he hasn't quite mastered the art of tossing it off lightly, in jest, like an older and more sophisticated individual like myself is able to manage on a regular basis.

(No, I don't say it in front of him. Shut up.)

Anyway, we're starting to worry that the injunction is backfiring, since it's given the phrase unique power in his mind. So Lora came up with the idea of letting him say it a few times, with permission and under controlled circumstances, so the pressure doesn't build up. I think it's working; he says it a lot less, and when he does, it's usually after asking permission.

I know his vocabulary is going to get a lot saltier in the next couple of years. and that we're just postpoing the inevitable. I'm already nostalgic for the days when the strongest imprecation he knew was "Silly." Boy, did he really work the frak out of that one.

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