I’m just going to come right out and say it. Despite our attempts to shelter our daughter’s ears from the harsher language of the American vocabulary, it’s possible that The Munchkin may have been exposed to some swearing.
Some relatives, whose names will not be mentioned (ahem if your name begins with a T, B or R), have even made it a goal to jokingly try to teach her some choice phrases. But, to their disappointment, I have to tell you that they are not the ones who succeeded.
It’s possible that The Hubs and I haven’t been as careful as we should be about what we say in front of The Munchkin. Now, don’t get me wrong, we aren’t the kind of people who can’t put a sentence together without swearing. But, on occasion, we have been known to let one or two slip.
She may have heard some name calling once or twice while riding in the car with me when someone cuts me off. Her ears may have been listening a few times when her father’s sports team is losing a game (especially if it’s by only a few points in the Final Four).
She may have even heard both of us utter a few expletives while rushing to make it out the door somewhere since The Hubs and I have been chronically late to everything since The Munchkin was born. Actually, that is exactly what happened.
We had a busy day planned and The Hubs and I were rushing around, up early on a weekend morning, trying to get everything ready to go and of course we’re late. The Hubs, who had just finished fighting with The Munchkin to get her to eat feeding The Munchkin breakfast, had yet to even have a chance to get into the shower and we had 45 minutes before we had to be at our first destination of the day. I was only just getting out of the shower standing at the top of the steps discussing everything we had to do before we could walk out the door. I will spare you the details except to say that a very long list was standing in the way of our current status and arriving at our first stop of the day.
At some point during all of this, The Hubs looked at the clock to check how much time we would be allowed to accomplish our list. It wasn’t much. Realizing this, he said, “Oh sh*t!”
And then, a tiny one-year-old voice echoed the exact. Same. Phrase. On Easter Sunday! And we were trying to make it to church.
“Oh sh*t!” Clear as day. Well, it could maybe pass for something like, “Oh sit” if you didn’t know the context, but we did.
Oh sh*t. I can’t wait for her to try out her new word at daycare this week. Maybe teach it to her one-year-old friends whose parents have been a bit more careful about what they say in front of their children.
Yeah. I’m that mom. The one with the swearing toddler.
I’m sure in a few years, she’ll be the kid telling her pre-school friends about difference between boys and girls.
Yikes. So, to prove to you that my daughter has a vocabulary that doesn’t involve swearing, here is a list of her top 10 words (and lucky for us, “Oh sh*t” isn’t in the top 10. It may be 11).
- Dada – her very favorite word.
- Dog. Woof-Woof.
- Mama – Notice how I come after the dog.
- Hi
- Bye
- Yay!
- Uh-oh!
- Ohhh – This is usually when she gives you a giant hug.
- Book
- No – Because she’s officially a toddler now and what toddler vocabulary would be complete without that word?
To compensate for being the parents of a swearing toddler, I also feel compelled to tell you that she knows the signs for, “More,” and “All done.”
And as far as I know, she hasn’t flipped anyone the bird. Yet.
This post is part of Oh Amanda’s Top Ten {Tuesday} blog carnival. Head on over there to check out more great top ten lists.
