Toddlers and Swearing

I don’t swear very often, I might let out an expletive here or there if I hurt myself or if I am really really tired, but I could go a week without swearing without any problems. My three year old son on the other hand has learnt to say the “F” word, and it is almost always in the right context.

He didn’t get it from me, but I’m not about to play the blame game because when you are a parent you start to really notice all the swearing that is anywhere and everywhere. It is commonly accepted for adults to drop the “f bomb” , but when your little person screams it out in the middle of the supermarket because he dropped his cheese on the floor, people stop and stare.

Three is an interesting age, children begin to explore with their language and mirror those around them. I’m quickly learning to pick my battles and not make too much of a fuss if he says something he shouldn’t because how is someone so new to this world supposed to be able to differentiate between “good” and “bad” words.

Our approach as parents is to ignore it when he comes out with an “F”, and not take the first letter to represent our grade as mum and dad. The more you react, the worse it will be because once they KNOW it’s naughty they will use it like a button to turn adults into crazy people.

I do have one little tip for you if you have your own little swear bear which seems to work most of the time though, if he does say it I will calmly say “truck” or “shivers” so he has something to replace it with.

And for now, all I can do is gently steer him in the right direction, because in the long run his experimentation with words isn’t going to hurt him. That being said, after a few weeks of some embarrassing (and very public) “F%^%’s, he is now beginning to move on to a new saying – and this one I do have to take credit for – “Omigod”.

So if you happen to hear a toddler come out with a swear word, please don’t judge – because it’s all a part of learning and they are trying to work out what it means.

What are some embarrassing things your children have done to you in public?

2 thoughts on “Toddlers and Swearing

  1. Well I can’t afford to play the blame game when it comes to swearing in my house because I do tend to swear way too much. My Mr 3 also uses his bad language in context.
    His favourite as the moment is ‘you’re not allowed to say (the f word) coz (the f word)’s a naughty word.’
    yes, thats right it is. and he will tell me that 3 times.
    Big trouble does make it a great way to push buttons so we try for a gentle steer also. Explaining that it’s a word for grownups to use, not for little boys and he does do much better most of the time.
    He uses freakin now a lot.
    the best one (worst really) is one i won’t own. At football one week and my Mr 3 (then just gone 2 i think) screams out the the umpire is a stupid c word. OMG I wasn’t in range for that one but he certainly shocked an aunty. He’s never said that one again tho.

  2. With my 3 girls I decided that I couldnt tell them not to use swear words if i used them BUT i would tell them when they came out with a “B” word that they were at home words and not words that we should use when we are out because that wasnt how nice people behaved in public. They knew that i never said those words when we were out and i dont use the “F” word so they were never allowed to use it either. I guess because i never used the word they just didnt either.
    The only time that one of my kids used a bad word was honestly a mistake….honest. But ohhhh so embarassing.
    There she was this delightful looking angel of a child with ringlets and an angelic look and she was talking to a little old lady and telling her all about the new kitten we had. The little old lady said “Hes very small isnt he?” …To which my angel replied “Yes he is cos hes the little C**T”…..OMG….RUNT…RUNT…Hes the RUNT of the littler…not the little C**T …OMG!!!!!!

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