WFMW - Mommy say, Kiddie repeat
What parenting lessons have you learned the hard way? What would you tell a first-time parent? Save us all some headaches and share!
One of my all time favorite kid related quotes reads:
“Children seldom misquote you. In fact, they usually repeat word for word what you shouldn’t have said.” - Author Unkown
Boy did I learn this the hard way. Now mind you, I rarely use colorful language, but the few times I have, my 5 year old son with his keen hearing and discerning nature has known that momma said something, and it was something bad.
After one particular incident involving a ragged oven mitt and a hot oven, he asked me in an accusing voice what I had just said. When I answered, “nothing”, he then asked,
“Did you just say ******.”
“Yes, okay.”
“You shouldn’t say dat word momma.”
“I know I know. It just slipped. Your right, we don’t say that word, okay?”
“Okay.”
But it was in Sunday school the following Sunday that he remembered that word but not that he shouldn’t say it. In church of all places, of course.
So, this little spiel has gotten a wee bit long and you’re probably wondering what works for me wednesday advice I originally set out to give and if I’m going to get to it already.
Don’t cuss.
Well, okay, since not using some sort of exclamatory word in certain stressful situations is not really plausible unless you’re a saint, I’ll give you our list of (good)colorful language we use when we’re tempted to say something bad.
And please don’t ask me where all these phrases originated. I really don’t know.
And yes we really do use them.
Whoa Nelly!
Flyin’ flippin’ thang!
Dadgummit!
Dadnammit!
Fiddlesticks and nonsense!
Flibbertygibbet!
Holy Hannah!
Hannah Banana!
In my household, replacing a bad word with a silly one is far more effective in getting my kids not to repeat what I shouldn’t have said, than say soap or hot sauce on the tongue. And it usually gets us all giggling about what we were upset about just seconds before we used our silly word.
Find more parenting advice WFMW posts over at Rocks in my Dryer
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Well its been 17 days since my son has swallowed his quarter and not out yet. We...
I agree wholeheartedly!
I agree. And those are some great “cuss words”.
Makes me think of that show - kids saw the darnedest things.
Blessings from Costa Rica
“Flyin’ flippin’ thang!” - that’s one I never heard before. I usually fall back on “Oh, fudge!”
Love Hannah Banana, she comes in handy.
I remember the first time I heard my mother swear! It was so funny… But with my husband in the Army, it’s hard to keep them away from swearing guys (although they try to be respectful around kids)… We rarely if ever swear.
These are great! In my house, it became a habit to say someone or something was “retarded”–I just recently decided we needed to stop this as it is pretty ugly and is making fun of some folks we don’t need to be making fun of. Now, we say “goon”. I’m such a goon is so much better!!! I’m taking your list of words into my house, though…much better than the other!!
My sainted MIL was having a bad day one day. I remember her sitting in the middle of the kitchen floor, crying over something spilled from the refrigerator, and saying, “Dog my cats anyhow!” That seemed to be her ultimate swear, and I love it.
Lol, that’s great!
That is so funny! :)
The Hannah Banana one made me laugh, because my little (ok, not so little as she’s now 20!) sister is called Hannah and one of her nicknames is Hannah Banana!
I haven’t got any kids as yet, or a husband, which is kinda helpful for the kids thing, I guess! but I’ll definitely have to keep this idea tucked away in my head to bring out one day…