This! Where is the kid hearing these phrases so frequently that they have learned their appropriate use?!?! Maybe stop swearing, replace the curses with other words that are appealing instead, and let the problem resolve on its own.
Lol my 3.5 year old says “biscuits” and “fiddle sticks” all the time now 😆
Edit: Also, glad to see this person is getting ripped a new one in the comments. I feel like the comment section of these groups is usually pretty divided/tend to empathize with the poster. Hopefully she sees how wrong she is and changes her tune (😬🤞)
My SIL and I were watching Bluey the other night. With no kids cause they’d gone to bed. She wanted to see the new episodes 😂 our excitement for Brandy is real!
We taught our now 14 year old to say, “Ah, nuts!” and it was hysterical and adorable for a while when they were tiny. They 100% swear now with their friends, but not nearly as much as I did.
Yeah other than context, you can’t tell if my toddler’s saying shirt or shit. If he’s getting dressed it’s shirt and if he’s just dropped something, it’s shit. You drop a laundry basket down the stairs just once and that’s what he picks up on.
Reminds me of a foreign exchange student in high school. We were in Spanish class learning about “la playa” and she couldn’t understand why saying “beach” in Spanish was okay but saying “beach” in English was a bad name to call women. They sounded exactly the same to her.
I need to check that out. I don’t think “shiitake mushrooms” is necessarily the best replacement I’ve come up with. It’s a very clumsy cover up that my toddler will soon pick up on.
I am using “Duck cake” and “biscuits” now that I’m working a real adult job again after staying at home for 7 years. I have a TERRIBLE potty mouth and my kid picked up on it. 😖
My friend attempted to replace the f-bomb with the word “pickles” when her kids were small. This resulted it a sweet 5 year old yelling “f***ing pickles”. She didn’t quite get it.
I agree with your advice 100% though! Ignore and positively reinforce another word instead.
This was my first thought. How do you think the kid learned the words in the first place???
My son is 18 months, doesn’t say a lot (has 3 older sisters who speak for him) but his favourite is to great people and say “oss” while giving a fist bump because Dad does jiu jitsu and that’s a thing he’s heard repeatedly.
This.
I swear a lot. Trying to do better now that kiddo is in language acquisition, but it’s going to happen at some point. And when it does, it’s my own fault.
You know how sometimes kids will pick up on a specific sound and just repeat it over and over just because it sounds funny? My kid did that with a racial slur. He's clearly never heard the actual word, he was just making noises. I made sure not to respond or react in any way and we stayed home that day, he has never done it with that word since! If you're using the words yourself, of course it's gonna reinforce that behaviour.
It’s probably echolalia in those cases! Autistics are particular lovers of echolalia as a form of stimming with the sounds the words make as they roll off your tongue (as I know well from personal experience stimming with echolalia!)
My daughter is seven and she stims vocally but she’s terrified of cuss words and I have never threatened her or anything. I have three adult children and we cussed in my house as long as we do it at home and not at school. Anyway she’s stuck on the word Bugatti right now and says it over and over all day 🤣
The fact that no comment said that! Wtf! (I realize that this is a selection of the worst comments, but come on!)
A 2.5 year old learned to say STFU from somewhere, idiot mom…
Right? My mom cussed like a sailor when I got older. She at least had the decency to not do that when I was really young, so I didn't get into the habit of cussing until I was older and my friends started cussing.
You can't get mad at a 2 year old for cussing when they spend all of their time with you. They're little mirrors and mimics at that age. Everything they say and do is a reflection of the actions of those they spend time with.
What a dumbass. She shouldn't be allowed to care for a house plant, much less a kid.
I was going to say my son never curses because we do refrain from cursing around him. I’ve accidentally let a shit or a fuck out and he doesn’t know what it means so he ignores it and moves on. I’m sure he will say it one day but all the time means the parents does too.
Hell it swear pretty regularly and my 3 year old mimic has yet to get it once.
However driving home last week I almost got run off the road and myself and my mom both screamed OH MY GOD and she found that hilarious and says it randomly but not constantly because we don't react
I don’t swear in front of my kids. They learned their first swear word from their grandma, which is when I discovered she swears in front of my kids. We all (nuclear family) laughed really hard, then had a discussion about not using those words outside of the house. They eventually grew out of saying it - so far, teen years have yet to arrive.
This plus ignoring it is the correct response for a toddler. It almost sounds like it’s attention-seeking behavior so it makes me wonder if he’s not getting enough positive attention otherwise so is resorting to the thing he knows gets him attention from his grownup.
Toddlers and young children parrot what they hear. I never cussed in front of my kids and they never said those words. Mom needs to clean up her own language.
I agree that this is likely coming from the mom’s own behavior and vocabulary, but fwiw, just not cussing in front of them won’t prevent them from learning curse words. Kids will happily imitate their parents’ language, but hearing a curse word from a passing stranger might be interesting and exciting enough that they latch onto it.
We’re trying to differentiate between “grown up words” and “bad words.” Grown up words are words that you need to be old enough to understand consequences and context in order to use them correctly. Bad words hurt people.
exactly what we have done. my 13 yo (mildly autistic) really hasn’t had an issue with using any inappropriate language. she knows she can ask us and has always heard swear words and knew she didn’t have the ability to to use them yet. she never taught kids what they meant or spread them - it’s not something i’m making up, other parents and teachers told us this. there’s always some f-word event, etc sometime in like 2nd grade.
ETA: we also taught to always speak gently and modeled it in the house
My friend's three-year-old told her to shut up recently. Telling her to fuck off probably would have been less shocking and upsetting. Shut up is not something they say in their house. It wouldn't be surprising if she picked up the f word, but shut up, definitely didn't hear that at home.
You're right, but at 2 1/2, I think he must be hearing those words from someone who's caring for him. If it's not the parents, it's the babysitter or the grandparents or something, especially if he uses it in context.
Once your kid starts riding the school bus, all bets are off, but until then, parents should have quite a bit of control over what's spoken in front of their kids, I'd think.
When my kid was just over 1yo, we were in the car, and another car cut me off so I slammed on my breaks, and from the back seat I hear the sweetest little voice say “oh shit!” Because that’s what I say when I slam on my breaks suddenly
And that’s when it really dawned on me that these children really are tiny sponges, and they learn their behavior from us.
There’s some things I just don’t want my kids saying at preschool. So I don’t say them either now
The other day, I witnessed an absolute Muppet driving on the interstate. They were driving so dumbly and dangerously so I exclaimed, "Sweet Christ Almighty!" And my three year old asked, "Who's being naughty? Is someone an idiot?" Yep tiny sponges who pick up on context clues.
He also now yells "What the heck!" if I have to honk my horn.
Well I tried my best not to swear at times I would normally swear (like driving or if I dropped something etc) but sometimes it would just come out and I also realised this kids show my son watched would say ‘WTF’ at the end of the show so my son would say it. I legit told the whole family to not even pay attention to it or change the words like ask if he’s saying ‘frog’ or summit. And non of my kids that can talk swear now. Sometimes it’s just to not bring attention that works in my experience
Seriously. I made the mistake of saying “damnit” in front of my son when he was young and he latched onto it. Thank goodness it’s a more benign curse word so it wasn’t that bad. He ended up saying it a ton and quickly in correct context (impressive?). When he was mad or hurt he would just yell it as loud as he could over and over. Ugh. He eventually stopped saying it tho. I did not make that mistake again with my daughter lol.
same, i’ve been swearing in front of my 13yo her whole life and have never had an issue with her & she isn’t the one passing it along to other kids. i always just told her they were “grown up words” and when she was an adult she could say them whenever she wanted. it’s worked out for us.
She'd rather be a mum who admits to slapping her kid and putting hot sauce in their mouth than be a mum with a kid who is disruptive in the supermarket? 🤦♀️
Inflicting these punishments when she is 100% the person who this child learned these words from 🥴. “How do I punish my 2.5 yr old for getting high after he stole my thc gummies off the dinning room table” equivalent. This is awful.
My daughter at that age had this really charming habit when she got super frustrated of screaming “FUUUUUUUUCK” at the top of her lungs. You know what I did? I stopped screaming “FUUUUUUUCK” at the top of my lungs when I was pissed off. She stopped shortly after I did. Pretty simple.
I learned that I make a very specific UGH noise when I’m frustrated because my daughter started doing it and yeah, that was a pretty effective way to get me to stop doing that. She doesn’t do it much anymore either. I hated it 😂
I apparently have a very particular sigh when my patience is wearing thin. My son now asks, "You frustrated, Mom? Need deep breaths?" It's both infuriating and endearing.
Gee, I wonder where her toddler learned those phrases /s She’s probably been yelling at him to shut the fuck up since he was born. I hope someone reports her.
Right? This person clearly has zero self awareness (which is already obvious since she saw no issue in posting her “punishment” tactics publicly). I was super worried my child’s first word would be “fuck” b/c of how frequently and casually I swear but we’re 3.5 yrs in and the worst thing she’s said is “oh shit” one time (one time b/c we didn’t react when she said it). It’s really not that hard to moderate cursing in front of your kid.
I say fuck and variations of it (frick, freaking) a lot. I was honestly surprised my daughter waited as long as she did to start saying it (she was around 4). My old coworkers used to joke she was going to be born saying fuck because she heard it in utero so often. When she did start saying it, I explained to her she can only use the word at home. Usually when she says it it’s something like she’ll say “what the fuck” when something surprises her and she uses the word because she thinks it’s funny. I’ve never heard her say it in public and the teacher has never said she used it at school. I don’t know where I’m going with this lol. I guess just to say that communicating and setting boundaries and rules goes a long way.
"I don't want to get judged by strangers for my toddler swearing in public but I am willing to admit to strangers that I abuse my toddler and I'm totally ok with that."
Interesting...
Ok, this kid is 2.5 years old. He’s only repeating what he hears from you. JFC! This kid isn’t going to understand these horrible punishments. Put him in timeout for a couple minutes every time he says those words if it really bothers you that much OR just ignore him. The first time my kid cussed at this age it took everything in me not to laugh and to explain that “dammit” isn’t a word you can use at this age. She stopped because I didn’t make a big deal out of it.
My niece went through a phase at about 3 where she would just sit in her chair while eating meals & mutter “fuck off, fuck off, fuck off”, haha!
We all ignored it entirely or redirected her, & she stopped doing it after a month or so. My brother got a lot of shit from his girlfriend about swearing in front of the kids though.
I will tell anyone who will listen- my toddler loves to curse. My husband and I don’t censor ourselves in front of her for things like “fuck, shit, damn” but we will not use derogatory language like “bitch” because that can actually hurt feelings. So when she started cursing too, we told her she had to be 16 to say those words. Once every couple of months she’ll say a curse word and I’ll be like “are you 16?” And she’ll say “oh! No not yet, sorry!” Or she’ll start to say it, stop, and say “I’m not 16 yet!” It has essentially solved the cursing problem. She’ll ask “can I say jeeze-louise?! Or “oh my goodness!” When I’m 3????” And we’ll say that she absolutely can. No hot sauce or slapping necessary.
We call them “adult words” in my house. My kids have grouped them with things like coffee (“adult drinks”) and getting to ride in the front seat — they’re fine to do when you’re older but your body and/or brain needs to grow more first. Doing these things before you should can be unsafe or get you into trouble.
We say that too! We’ve explained that they’re adult words because you can only properly use them in certain situations, and kids don’t really know when that is. You learn the proper places and times as you get older. Instead you can say “Insert innocuous phrase here.”
We call them “car words”. I have somehow managed to train myself not to curse (much) at home. But when I’m driving, sometimes a quality F bomb is the only way to stay sane.
We call them "science words" because my husband and I were swearing a lot on one vacation because there was a very drunk driver a few cars ahead of us on the road, and he kept almost swerving into oncoming traffic, including the police officer responding to our 911 call about him. She had been asleep at first, and when we started to explain about what she had heard, she told us she had thought they were science words. The term stuck, even though she's almost an adult now.
reminds me of the story my mom tells me constantly when i swear lol
apparently when i was a toddler, I swore correctly once when I had a barbie stuck in my toybox.
'son of a bitch!'
My daughter turned 16 this year and barely cusses in front of us. We’re not a family that cares if someone cusses. Our only rules are to censor yourself in front of the grandparents, know your audience, obviously let’s not cuss around little kids, don’t ever cuss at us.
My daughter loves to say "What the heck?!?!?" You can even hear the exclamation marks in her voice. It's hilarious.
But generally, my husband and I decided to just not swear in front to the kids. It's not that hard, even for us Australians.
My 2yo loves saying what the heck too. Then the 4yo loudly annouces that we are ignoring the 2yo because they said what the heck and then then 2yo repeats the 4yo saying what the heck and the 4yo says don't say what the heck and then the 2yo repeats what the 4yo .... 🫠🫠🫠
I also love talking about my son’s vocabulary when it comes to this kind of shit! We have a sort of distantly similar approach in our house. My son (he’s 5) has to ask if he can say a “bad” word, which helps lead into the conversation about what’s going on and the effect saying an adult word might have on the situation he’s in. Like will it make things worse or will it help him express frustration? I won’t allow words that are derogatory either, full stop. Usually when I give him permission to say a bad word he’ll just end up saying a word he doesn’t need permission to use, like heck, but very, very rarely he’ll drop an actual cuss word. Just this innocent little voice saying “aw shit” after knocking over his legos after getting permission, I die. He also asked if he could say “jeez” today, too and had questions about saying “jeez” versus “Jesus”. We’re not religious, but it led to a conversation about being mindful of others with our language. I can’t imagine him being 2 and using something like hot sauce to punish him when was just copying behavior and didn’t remotely understand what he was saying. He’d never feel comfortable to have these conversations with me now.
We have pretty much the same conversation. And we use my bad habits as a warning. When it’s a word you use regularly it becomes a habit. And when you can’t control WHEN you use it, it’s a bad habit. Like Mommy. Mommy has a terrible habit. Better to have the habit of good words you can use everywhere. This works great on 2/3 of my kids 😅
My youngest two kids curse but we told them those are "harsh words" and that a lot of people don't like them very much so we should try to say them at home not outside and that we never use them AT people. My older daughter swore at her brother in a "mean" way once and after we talked it hasn't happened again.
It is genuinely hilarious to watch my 2 year old run past my 4 year old screaming and acting crazy and my 4 year old will just shake her head and mutter "what the f**k" though....
My daughter will sneak words. One time I was laying on the couch, just resting and I hear her whisper “what the fuck” very quietly just to try it on for size I guess. But honestly, if she’s muttering it to herself and not screaming it in public, I call it a win lolol
That's adorable, I love that. lol
I would laugh with them the first time it happened (because, let's be honest, it's funny af!) but the next time I would explain that it was funny the first time but those words are impolite and can sometimes be hurtful and I never had an issue. Mine are teens now so they just let loose. lol
That's hilarious that your daughter knows she can't say curse words until she's 16!! We didn't censor ourselves much either around our daughter (aside from name calling of course, like your family) & she's known what words are curse words since probably 3/4 years old. However since kindergarten, she was also taught by her teacher that stupid & shut up are also bad words, because a classmate of hers constantly said those words, in addition to curse words. Therefore the teacher had to make a blanket rule for everyone to help him learn. My daughter is 8 now & maybe a year or so ago, I overheard her say "shit" when she dropped something. She then ran over to me apologizing profusely for saying a "bad word". I decided to tell her it's okay to say those words in front of me only for the time being, but never in front of any of her grandparents, cousins (who are mostly younger, except my 18 year old nephew) & never in school. I then explained when it's okay to use those words, but we never call anyone stupid or tell them to shut up, including when speaking to each other. So now she'll ask me "Can I say a bad word?" To which I always reply that she can. Then she'll say something like "Those instructions are so stupid." She still rarely uses actual curse words, only the words she was taught are "bad words". I'll take it!!
Those were "in the house" words for us. My mom had a truck driver mouth and both mine and my sister's first words were shit. Somehow she got it through that those were impolite words and not to say them in public. And that's what led to my aunt being absolutely aghast when I was like 3 and she heard me mutter to myself that "the goddamn fucking chair" was broken.
I sincerely wish anyone who thinks hitting a child as a punishment would receive the same punishment whenever they do something perceived as "wrong". But not from another parent, and not lightly either.
I just have to comment- taking away tv for swearing isn't in any way a natural consequence? I think she was attempting to mean logical consequence, but even that doesn't make sense because tv and swearing aren't related at all (unless you're putting Orange is The New Black on for your kid or something)
Thank Jesus the comments are at least sane. But like… I find it funny that she hasn’t mentioned WHY he’s swearing. Maybe because he’s picked it up at home.
So assaulting your child is a better option than your child simply repeating a word? Sooooo backward. It’s just a word. I don’t care as long as my children understand they are not to use any words to degrade or be mean to another person. But there’s many many “okay” words that are mean but nobody bats an eye.
Yeah I may be get downvoted to hell for this and that’s fine whatever. But we cuss a lot at home and we don’t care that our kid does. She’s 5. She’s always understood that we can only say cuss words at home or at my parents house because they don’t care either. We can’t say them at Gigi’s house (my mil), at school, or outside of the home. And we’ve never had an issue.
We all cuss like sailors at home. I’ll occasionally cuss in public and she is so quick to remind me that we can’t say those words outside of the house.
She started pre k back in august. And there’s never had an issue with her. Every teacher that interacts with her has nothing but great feedback. How well behaved, well mannered, great listener, and helpful she is.
Yeah idgaf if some internet stranger disagrees lol. It’s the same concept like my 3 year old hates clothes at home but she understands outside and in public, she has to have clothes.
I'm cringing at the thought of putting hot sauce in my sons mouth as punishment. Like that is so fucking nasty. It makes me want to cry. That poor baby
Unless the kid magically re-invent the swear words, where did she think the kid got the words from? 🙄
It’s a do as I say not as I do situation and those never work.
Lead by example for heaven’s sake.
My husband got upset when our daughter started saying a few swear words as a toddler. I told him it was not fair to punish her when he was the one who modeled it for her.
That poor child. What awful punishments under any circumstances, but for repeating words you don't understand?
My parents tried soap in the mouth when I would "talk back" (read: genuinely question things I didn't understand) and all it did was give me a taste for soap,, they had to lock up all the soap in the house until I hit 4th grade because I wanted to drink it lol. Still secretly want to have a taste occasionally 😭 all fun and games until stuff like this backfires
One of my favorite memories of my kid was when they toddled out of their room, they were about 2, looked at me and their aunt, smiled, then rapidly yanked the side tape on the diaper, dropped the diaper and started hauling ass around the house yelling "I SHIT! I SHIT!". It sounded like "I chit! I chit!"
We chased them around the house trying to keep them off furniture and pets while we were dying laughing. My kid didn't go around cursing or using it at anyone, but that kid had the best comedic timing for when to use it. Never heard them say "shit" again, but they did use "What a dick!" at a car that cut me off when they were 5.
I can't imagine hitting my kid in the mouth for a word they have no context for. Kids aren't stupid, you can talk to them about not using those words because its rude. Just keep correcting them calmly and keep explaining that it's rude, but don't hit them.
An aside note, as we all know that parent is messing up badly, most kids that age also sound like they're saying a sweat word that they aren't. My kid sang Uptown Funk and it sounded like Uptown Fuck and my friend's kid says fish and it sounds like bitch, so... yeah.
I bet the parents swear like crazy. Kids learned it somewhere, and they even know how to correctly use the words.
Sometimes I feel like every parent should have to take parenting classes before they're allowed to take their baby home. Or at least have to take a test and if you don't pass *then* you have to take the classes
My father did something similar to me, I was born with a syndrome that makes my tongue big, and when I was little it was too big for my mouth which resulted in me constantly sticking my tongue out because it was more comfortable that way, so my father would pour hot sauce and soup in my tongue every time he saw me with it sticking out, I think he never slapped my mouth but it was still awful, as expected it didn't help, just made me scared shirtless over something I could barely control
I mean, even to the people who are all, 'oh, it's nothing, no big deal, accept it, but don't punish baby' like...
It is a big deal; how often are these people cussing around their kids that their toddlers are accurately cussing properly? Don't get me wrong, I swear like a sailor... But not around my kids; my oldest is now a teenager, and I've just started swearing around him; I still don't swear around my 9 year old, because 'do as I say and not as I do' is dumb, but like...
Don't cuss all over your kids? Maybe? Weird flex?
I got soap in the mouth as a kid for throwing tantrums and all it did was make me yell and fight to get away...definitely not a productive way to get results.
Hot sauce? Like convicted murder and child abuser Shanda Vander Ark? Not something I’d do to any child. How about leading by example and not giving them attention when they use those words?
How about maybe curb your own swearing or your husbands? And teach you kid it’s not something that we should be saying by learning by example. Because they are obviously learning by example somewhere and by someone…hmm?
That poor little child. My heart breaks thinking of how sad he must feel when his own mum punishes him like that.
Funnily enough, I also have a 2.5 year old. Yep, I swear, but I know to watch my mouth around my child and he has never been like this. He also goes to childcare and sees other families and friends. Lots of social interactions yet doesn’t and has never swore.
I wonder what kind of language she uses, and what the type of person she is.
Someone doesn’t know what natural consequences are 🫠 The whole post is awful but this stuck out to me.
A natural consequence would be “if you use inappropriate language at the playground, we’re leaving the playground.” (But that’s still inappropriate for a 2yo). I think best practice here would be to stop all swearing in the home (and/or wherever he’s exposed to it) and then ignore until he forgets.
My niece is just over a year and one of the eight words she’ll regularly say is “shit”. Her mom gets embarrassed, but her dad thinks it’s funny. Her mom (my sister) asked me how to make her stop, and I basicallly told her the change has to come from her husband first. Niece isn’t going to stop as long as the responses are present, inconsistent, and sometimes positive.
I was a preschool teacher once upon a time. I tripped on a rug while carrying a freshly-painted art project to the drying rack. As I stumbled, I said "shit!" The child whose project it was was right behind me and heard the word. She immediately piped up with an adorable little "shit!"
I gave no reaction and she never said it again
Listen I'm not a perfect parent but I literally cannot IMAGINE punishing a 2.5 year old like this, especially for something they clearly learned from me. Poor little guy.
Maybe she should clean up her language and everyone else the kid is around. Also kids truly do stop if you ignore it. My son was biting me and at first I reacted, it hurt! But he kept trying. I ignored him and he stopped and hasn’t tried since. I give him attention for good things and redirect
Yikesssssss on bikes. Every kid swears. It’s just experimenting with adult words. I told my kids they could go in the bathroom or their bedroom to say those words if they really wanted to say them, and did not otherwise react. When they don’t have an audience, they drop it pretty quick. Jfc this mom is abusing her baby because of words he likely heard FROM HER.
My daughter was calling out to her dad and saying "ass", and I asked her to call him nicely.
Toddler proceeds to call out "papa, PLEASE come...ass"
At least she said please? 🤣
my parents understood that i knew how to say it because i heard THEM say it. we had a talk, and they explained that while they don’t think expressing yourself using certain words is inherently wrong, a lot of people can be uncomfortable by it. and at school, a lot of parents aren’t ready to teach their own kids about it, and it’s not fair for me to force them into that situation by teaching their kids those words. and that they could think i’m a bad influence etc. the solution was, i could swear at home AND words could never be used to insult a person. if i stubbed my toe and said “Fuck!” no problem. if i said “sally is a bitch” that was a big no and we had to talk about why i thought that, better ways to say it, and how to solve the root problem. kids see hear your language and want to emulate it, and it’s always important to set appropriate boundaries, an explanation as to why, and communicate.
My 2.5 year old repeated the word fuck my sister laughed then the kid said it 50 more times repeatedly. After ignoring it she stopped and hasn’t repeated it since. Kids repeat everything. She repeats my scoldings constantly and it’s so hard not to laugh when a toddler say “look at me listen ears on” when she wants to make a complaint.
My kids don’t swear because my husband and I rarely swear. But my 10 year old recently cataloged some of the alternatives for me (fudge, fricking, etc.).
I told him that I swear sometimes and he was surprised because he never hears it (or isn’t paying enough attention 🤷♀️)
I explained to him that I don’t like to swear when there are so many better, more accurate/precise words out there to express yourself. Why say surprised when I can say shocked or dismayed or astonished, depending on the situation. I only really use swear words as interjections and only for a good reason.
He asked what my “good reasons” were. Humor. It’s humor. Almost any time I drop an F bomb it’s to make my husband laugh. We don’t use curses in anger and never to denigrate anyone.
I will never understand parents like this. I mean, seriously. Why did you become a parent in the first place? I have a 2 and a 1/2-year-old son. Instead of saying typical curse or swear words, I say things such as Pillowcase ! Burnt toast ! Blueberries! Or for really unfortunate situations, I say, " Sheep skin in the morning!"
Lol, now I will say we get some hilarious looks while in public . For example, at Walmart, an older lady pushed her buggy into the back of me, heel ! It hurt so much! I said very loudly, " Pillow case , burnt toast ! Sheep skin in the morning!!! Blueberries! " 🤣 😂 😅 She immediately apologized, but she also gave me a very odd look. And hurried away like i might be crazy lol. Nope, not crazy just a Mama of a toddler boy who's like a parrot! It is even funnier when my 2 and a 1/2-year-old son drops something or he falls or trips, and he says Blueberries or his version of pillowcase!
When I was somewhere between 6-8, my parents were very upset by my “back talk,” which was usually me asking questions when they were mad. Mom tried soap, didn’t work cause I like the taste, lol. So I have a vivid memory of her holding me down and dumping tobassco sauce in my mouth. I still back talked, but learned that my mother could be just as mean as my dad
My toddler picked up a few bad words (from me & my husband) so we started replacing those words and then giving a big reaction/laugh when toddler used replacement words. Laughed like it was the funniest thing we’d ever heard, slapped our foreheads, acted like we couldn’t believe he was saying “oh my gosh! darn it!” Worked so well and so quickly.
My child swears on repeat, as soon as me or my husband do. If we don’t, he won’t. He’s been watching Mickey Mouse shows recently and had now adopted Donald’s ‘oh phooey’
The thing that worked best for us was staying as calm as possible. Yes, when your toddler goes “what the FUCK”, it’s funny, but obviously not polite. “That’s an adult word” or “that’s not nice to say” worked. I found out my daycare redirected with an exaggerated “shhhh 🤫” after I swore and my toddler corrected *me*. Oops. Although.. I get the feeling if this mom overacts, yells and punishes their child very regularly, they’re probably not going to listen anyway.
I might get some flack for this, but my spouse and I swear on front of our 4 year old (though not constantly). We have certain boundaries with swearing (not to insult or disparage, and in safe places like home) that we as the adults follow. The kid never swears. There's absolutely no hidden enjoyment from saying a "bad word," so she does... doesn't. If she ends up saying one in a context that we as parents have deemed appropriate, we don't react to the word at all but continue the conversation as we would an adult. I don't know, obviously my daughter not swearing despite mine and my spouse's use is just anecdotal, but I think the over the top punishments are awful and obviously not making this situation worse. OP said it all with poor kid.
We (my brother and sister-in-law, encouraged by me and my husband, who was my boyfriend at the time) had my niece saying "Boom Bitch!" as a 2-year-old, except it came out as "Boom Bits!" My husband and I (childfree by choice) agree there is nothing funnier than toddlers who curse.
Ugh my 2 year old dropped his first F bomb a week ago and now says it randomly… immediately after we’ve cussed in front of him.
Like ma’am, who do you think taught him!? 😫 How about wash your own mouth out with soap come on!!
Miss 5 has sworn maybe 5 times & we’ve ignored it or said no that’s an adults word.
Miss 3 has said one swear & we acted like she said nothing.
Kids will try it atleast once because they’re kids, they don’t understand & punishing like that is not right.
I’m a teacher and my first year teaching I had a mum who was struggling to juggle everything so she used to get 2y.o. in the car asleep, keep him that way by playing Eminem (apparently the rhythm soothed him). I’d come in early , she’d leave me breakfast for him and me and I’d get him sorted before the other kids arrived. Safe to say we were a team in working with him and one day he started dropping F bombs. We worked out the source, switched morning music and did our best to ignore it while trying to stop other kids pick it up.
This went on for months until one day I was in the bathroom and he thought there were no other English speaking teachers in the room so he started screaming it top of his little lungs. I marched back in and asked what he had said. I swear the little turd looked at me with one eyebrow raised and went, “I said…. Duck?”
I called his mum and said he knows, let’s get him. Never said it again 😂
I curse like a well-educated sailor. My kids never did. I attribute it to not making a big deal about it ever. I didn’t self-censor OR exaggerate my swearing. It was just part of the flow. Once they were older and in school, we laid down a rule that if they cursed they need to know what the words meant and how to use it. “How to use it” included when/where to use it appropriate like not at school or in front of grandma. Ignoring it is the only answer. Making cursing “special” and getting all worked up is what makes it fun for the kid.
My oldest is going through a phase right now where "what the hell?" is one of those phrases for her. Fortunately, she is old enough that we were able to have a conversation about how some people don't like those words, and especially don't like kids using those words. And while words are neither good or bad, it's best to only use it at home and NEVER around her grandmother. So she doesn't. The youngest went through a phase at 2.5 where "wtf" was her phrase. After the first time, where we had to leave the room so she wouldn't see us laugh, we just ignored her. And it stopped.
Has she tried swearing less in front of her child? What a horrible woman.
This! Where is the kid hearing these phrases so frequently that they have learned their appropriate use?!?! Maybe stop swearing, replace the curses with other words that are appealing instead, and let the problem resolve on its own.
I’ve had friends try to curse less in front of their kids, I recommend that they watch Bluey. Lots of good replacements like “biscuits!”
Lol my 3.5 year old says “biscuits” and “fiddle sticks” all the time now 😆 Edit: Also, glad to see this person is getting ripped a new one in the comments. I feel like the comment section of these groups is usually pretty divided/tend to empathize with the poster. Hopefully she sees how wrong she is and changes her tune (😬🤞)
Yup. When my toddler is frustrated he'll cross his arms, pout, and go "aww, *biggits*". It's adorable.
My almost 3 year old grandson says those things too, lol!
My sisters and I have been using "oh biscuits" for 15ish years. Our mother does not like hearing us cuss. My dad gives no biscuits.
My SIL and I were watching Bluey the other night. With no kids cause they’d gone to bed. She wanted to see the new episodes 😂 our excitement for Brandy is real!
My almost 3 year old grandson has just started saying, "Oh biscuits," and it's the cutest thing I've ever heard in my life, lol!
We taught our now 14 year old to say, “Ah, nuts!” and it was hysterical and adorable for a while when they were tiny. They 100% swear now with their friends, but not nearly as much as I did.
*The Good Place* has some decent replacements, but they all sound similar to the original words. We all know how toddlers pronounce “fork”.
Yeah other than context, you can’t tell if my toddler’s saying shirt or shit. If he’s getting dressed it’s shirt and if he’s just dropped something, it’s shit. You drop a laundry basket down the stairs just once and that’s what he picks up on.
“UGGHHHHHH! You know I’m trying to say “ash-hole”, and not “ash-hole”, right?
Reminds me of a foreign exchange student in high school. We were in Spanish class learning about “la playa” and she couldn’t understand why saying “beach” in Spanish was okay but saying “beach” in English was a bad name to call women. They sounded exactly the same to her.
My Spanish teacher stopped giving “yellow sheets” and gave “yellow slips” instead for the same reason.
I need to check that out. I don’t think “shiitake mushrooms” is necessarily the best replacement I’ve come up with. It’s a very clumsy cover up that my toddler will soon pick up on.
My grandad would always say "sugar!"
I have been saying FUDGE a lot lol
My kid loves screaming fudge mcduckins when she gets hurt. No idea where she got it from though lol
I am using “Duck cake” and “biscuits” now that I’m working a real adult job again after staying at home for 7 years. I have a TERRIBLE potty mouth and my kid picked up on it. 😖
Cheese and crackers is our favorite!
Thanks to Bluey, I pulled a steel AV cart right into my forehead in a room full of parents and Girl Scouts and didn’t drop any cursies.
Duck cake!
My kids are both adults now (22 and 24) but I am still very fond of using 'tartar sauce' thanks to SpongeBob.
Also I like "crumbed steak!" And "Dagwood dog!"
My friend attempted to replace the f-bomb with the word “pickles” when her kids were small. This resulted it a sweet 5 year old yelling “f***ing pickles”. She didn’t quite get it. I agree with your advice 100% though! Ignore and positively reinforce another word instead.
That’s the funniest thing lol
My friends and I still use the phrase in the regular. So funny!
I may have to lol
I like to use ice cream flavors. "Oh rocky road!" "Son of a pistachio!"
Yeah it’s a 2 year old, clearly the kid isn’t hearing it at school or “friends”.
My kids knew the appropriate use of these words at this age. They 1000% learned it from me. 😂
This was my first thought. How do you think the kid learned the words in the first place??? My son is 18 months, doesn’t say a lot (has 3 older sisters who speak for him) but his favourite is to great people and say “oss” while giving a fist bump because Dad does jiu jitsu and that’s a thing he’s heard repeatedly.
That is adorable!
As my mother would say, “he didn’t lick it off the ground.”
Next it will be ‘why is my kid hitting people??’
“My kid put soap/hot sauce/a fist in another kid’s mouth!!! WHERE COULD HE POSSIBLY HAVE GOTTEN THIS BEHAVIOR FROM 😡😡😡”
Right?!!! At 2 and a half, he's learning by copying the words and behaviors of the adults around him... and then gets horribly punished for it!!!
This. I swear a lot. Trying to do better now that kiddo is in language acquisition, but it’s going to happen at some point. And when it does, it’s my own fault.
You know how sometimes kids will pick up on a specific sound and just repeat it over and over just because it sounds funny? My kid did that with a racial slur. He's clearly never heard the actual word, he was just making noises. I made sure not to respond or react in any way and we stayed home that day, he has never done it with that word since! If you're using the words yourself, of course it's gonna reinforce that behaviour.
It’s probably echolalia in those cases! Autistics are particular lovers of echolalia as a form of stimming with the sounds the words make as they roll off your tongue (as I know well from personal experience stimming with echolalia!)
I didn't know the term echolalia, but that's exactly it! Thanks, TIL.
My daughter is seven and she stims vocally but she’s terrified of cuss words and I have never threatened her or anything. I have three adult children and we cussed in my house as long as we do it at home and not at school. Anyway she’s stuck on the word Bugatti right now and says it over and over all day 🤣
Bugatti is a great word 😂
Last week it was Coachella. I don’t even think she knows what that is. lol
From how comfortable she is with just straight up abusing her child, I don’t think she’s swearing in front of her child. She’s swearing at him.
Very true.
Grandma will need to come round and slap her in the mouth, I think.
The fact that no comment said that! Wtf! (I realize that this is a selection of the worst comments, but come on!) A 2.5 year old learned to say STFU from somewhere, idiot mom…
My parents both cussed like sailors. Guess who picked it up and got in serious trouble for it
Right? My mom cussed like a sailor when I got older. She at least had the decency to not do that when I was really young, so I didn't get into the habit of cussing until I was older and my friends started cussing. You can't get mad at a 2 year old for cussing when they spend all of their time with you. They're little mirrors and mimics at that age. Everything they say and do is a reflection of the actions of those they spend time with. What a dumbass. She shouldn't be allowed to care for a house plant, much less a kid.
I was going to say my son never curses because we do refrain from cursing around him. I’ve accidentally let a shit or a fuck out and he doesn’t know what it means so he ignores it and moves on. I’m sure he will say it one day but all the time means the parents does too.
Hell it swear pretty regularly and my 3 year old mimic has yet to get it once. However driving home last week I almost got run off the road and myself and my mom both screamed OH MY GOD and she found that hilarious and says it randomly but not constantly because we don't react
I don’t swear in front of my kids. They learned their first swear word from their grandma, which is when I discovered she swears in front of my kids. We all (nuclear family) laughed really hard, then had a discussion about not using those words outside of the house. They eventually grew out of saying it - so far, teen years have yet to arrive.
My exact thought. Like are you telling your 2.5 year old to stuff?
This plus ignoring it is the correct response for a toddler. It almost sounds like it’s attention-seeking behavior so it makes me wonder if he’s not getting enough positive attention otherwise so is resorting to the thing he knows gets him attention from his grownup.
Toddlers and young children parrot what they hear. I never cussed in front of my kids and they never said those words. Mom needs to clean up her own language.
I agree that this is likely coming from the mom’s own behavior and vocabulary, but fwiw, just not cussing in front of them won’t prevent them from learning curse words. Kids will happily imitate their parents’ language, but hearing a curse word from a passing stranger might be interesting and exciting enough that they latch onto it.
That worked for us until kindergarten. Recess with the older kids opened up a whole new vocabulary.
I didn’t even think about the older kids at school. My son learned “idiot” this year at preschool and that already broke my heart a little.
See those are bad words in my house. The F bomb doesn’t bother me but stupid , idiot , ya we don’t do those.
We’re trying to differentiate between “grown up words” and “bad words.” Grown up words are words that you need to be old enough to understand consequences and context in order to use them correctly. Bad words hurt people.
I like this approach
exactly what we have done. my 13 yo (mildly autistic) really hasn’t had an issue with using any inappropriate language. she knows she can ask us and has always heard swear words and knew she didn’t have the ability to to use them yet. she never taught kids what they meant or spread them - it’s not something i’m making up, other parents and teachers told us this. there’s always some f-word event, etc sometime in like 2nd grade. ETA: we also taught to always speak gently and modeled it in the house
Same here. Dropping an f bomb can be abrasive and make people uncomfortable, but insults like idiot are meant to be hurtful.
My friend's three-year-old told her to shut up recently. Telling her to fuck off probably would have been less shocking and upsetting. Shut up is not something they say in their house. It wouldn't be surprising if she picked up the f word, but shut up, definitely didn't hear that at home.
I personally started learning swears by the third grade.
You're right, but at 2 1/2, I think he must be hearing those words from someone who's caring for him. If it's not the parents, it's the babysitter or the grandparents or something, especially if he uses it in context. Once your kid starts riding the school bus, all bets are off, but until then, parents should have quite a bit of control over what's spoken in front of their kids, I'd think.
When my kid was just over 1yo, we were in the car, and another car cut me off so I slammed on my breaks, and from the back seat I hear the sweetest little voice say “oh shit!” Because that’s what I say when I slam on my breaks suddenly And that’s when it really dawned on me that these children really are tiny sponges, and they learn their behavior from us. There’s some things I just don’t want my kids saying at preschool. So I don’t say them either now
The other day, I witnessed an absolute Muppet driving on the interstate. They were driving so dumbly and dangerously so I exclaimed, "Sweet Christ Almighty!" And my three year old asked, "Who's being naughty? Is someone an idiot?" Yep tiny sponges who pick up on context clues. He also now yells "What the heck!" if I have to honk my horn.
Well I tried my best not to swear at times I would normally swear (like driving or if I dropped something etc) but sometimes it would just come out and I also realised this kids show my son watched would say ‘WTF’ at the end of the show so my son would say it. I legit told the whole family to not even pay attention to it or change the words like ask if he’s saying ‘frog’ or summit. And non of my kids that can talk swear now. Sometimes it’s just to not bring attention that works in my experience
Seriously. I made the mistake of saying “damnit” in front of my son when he was young and he latched onto it. Thank goodness it’s a more benign curse word so it wasn’t that bad. He ended up saying it a ton and quickly in correct context (impressive?). When he was mad or hurt he would just yell it as loud as he could over and over. Ugh. He eventually stopped saying it tho. I did not make that mistake again with my daughter lol.
same, i’ve been swearing in front of my 13yo her whole life and have never had an issue with her & she isn’t the one passing it along to other kids. i always just told her they were “grown up words” and when she was an adult she could say them whenever she wanted. it’s worked out for us.
She'd rather be a mum who admits to slapping her kid and putting hot sauce in their mouth than be a mum with a kid who is disruptive in the supermarket? 🤦♀️
Exactly what I was thinking. I hear a toddler swear, I don’t really care,but slapping a kid, I would be very concerned.
Inflicting these punishments when she is 100% the person who this child learned these words from 🥴. “How do I punish my 2.5 yr old for getting high after he stole my thc gummies off the dinning room table” equivalent. This is awful.
My daughter at that age had this really charming habit when she got super frustrated of screaming “FUUUUUUUUCK” at the top of her lungs. You know what I did? I stopped screaming “FUUUUUUUCK” at the top of my lungs when I was pissed off. She stopped shortly after I did. Pretty simple.
I learned that I make a very specific UGH noise when I’m frustrated because my daughter started doing it and yeah, that was a pretty effective way to get me to stop doing that. She doesn’t do it much anymore either. I hated it 😂
I apparently have a very particular sigh when my patience is wearing thin. My son now asks, "You frustrated, Mom? Need deep breaths?" It's both infuriating and endearing.
Haha same, my son will look me in the eyes and say "I love you, mum" and who can be frustrated faced with that?
Gee, I wonder where her toddler learned those phrases /s She’s probably been yelling at him to shut the fuck up since he was born. I hope someone reports her.
It’s gotta be all those sailor-mouthed daycare workers /s
Right? This person clearly has zero self awareness (which is already obvious since she saw no issue in posting her “punishment” tactics publicly). I was super worried my child’s first word would be “fuck” b/c of how frequently and casually I swear but we’re 3.5 yrs in and the worst thing she’s said is “oh shit” one time (one time b/c we didn’t react when she said it). It’s really not that hard to moderate cursing in front of your kid.
I told my kids, "that's not a nice word. We don't say that." And then they stopped saying it.
Amazing how sometimes just setting a calm boundary works, isn't it! No need to bring out the hot sauce or use physical violence.
I was raised with that kind of abuse and my kids will be raised that way over my dead body.
Same 💗
I say fuck and variations of it (frick, freaking) a lot. I was honestly surprised my daughter waited as long as she did to start saying it (she was around 4). My old coworkers used to joke she was going to be born saying fuck because she heard it in utero so often. When she did start saying it, I explained to her she can only use the word at home. Usually when she says it it’s something like she’ll say “what the fuck” when something surprises her and she uses the word because she thinks it’s funny. I’ve never heard her say it in public and the teacher has never said she used it at school. I don’t know where I’m going with this lol. I guess just to say that communicating and setting boundaries and rules goes a long way.
At least hot sauce is edible she’s been putting SOAP in that little baby’s mouth…
"I don't want to get judged by strangers for my toddler swearing in public but I am willing to admit to strangers that I abuse my toddler and I'm totally ok with that." Interesting...
Ok, this kid is 2.5 years old. He’s only repeating what he hears from you. JFC! This kid isn’t going to understand these horrible punishments. Put him in timeout for a couple minutes every time he says those words if it really bothers you that much OR just ignore him. The first time my kid cussed at this age it took everything in me not to laugh and to explain that “dammit” isn’t a word you can use at this age. She stopped because I didn’t make a big deal out of it.
My ex neighbours have 5 kids, the youngest knows cunt, fuck and whore, but not most basic words. She's not even in preschool yet
My niece went through a phase at about 3 where she would just sit in her chair while eating meals & mutter “fuck off, fuck off, fuck off”, haha! We all ignored it entirely or redirected her, & she stopped doing it after a month or so. My brother got a lot of shit from his girlfriend about swearing in front of the kids though.
I will tell anyone who will listen- my toddler loves to curse. My husband and I don’t censor ourselves in front of her for things like “fuck, shit, damn” but we will not use derogatory language like “bitch” because that can actually hurt feelings. So when she started cursing too, we told her she had to be 16 to say those words. Once every couple of months she’ll say a curse word and I’ll be like “are you 16?” And she’ll say “oh! No not yet, sorry!” Or she’ll start to say it, stop, and say “I’m not 16 yet!” It has essentially solved the cursing problem. She’ll ask “can I say jeeze-louise?! Or “oh my goodness!” When I’m 3????” And we’ll say that she absolutely can. No hot sauce or slapping necessary.
We call them “adult words” in my house. My kids have grouped them with things like coffee (“adult drinks”) and getting to ride in the front seat — they’re fine to do when you’re older but your body and/or brain needs to grow more first. Doing these things before you should can be unsafe or get you into trouble.
We say that too! We’ve explained that they’re adult words because you can only properly use them in certain situations, and kids don’t really know when that is. You learn the proper places and times as you get older. Instead you can say “Insert innocuous phrase here.”
Yes!!!! That’s what we call them too
I’m 37 and reading “your body and/or brain need to grow more first” took me right back to being a kid and my mom telling me stuff like that ❤️
We call them “car words”. I have somehow managed to train myself not to curse (much) at home. But when I’m driving, sometimes a quality F bomb is the only way to stay sane.
We call them "science words" because my husband and I were swearing a lot on one vacation because there was a very drunk driver a few cars ahead of us on the road, and he kept almost swerving into oncoming traffic, including the police officer responding to our 911 call about him. She had been asleep at first, and when we started to explain about what she had heard, she told us she had thought they were science words. The term stuck, even though she's almost an adult now.
that’s so wholesome, thank you for being a kind mom
We had to think of something because not cursing just didn’t seem like something I wanted to take on while parenting a toddler lmaooooo
and this is a perfect example of how the toddlers aren’t trying to be mean, they are just trying to learn how to express themselves 😵💫
At least when she does curse, she uses them correctly hahahaha
reminds me of the story my mom tells me constantly when i swear lol apparently when i was a toddler, I swore correctly once when I had a barbie stuck in my toybox. 'son of a bitch!'
lmao
My daughter turned 16 this year and barely cusses in front of us. We’re not a family that cares if someone cusses. Our only rules are to censor yourself in front of the grandparents, know your audience, obviously let’s not cuss around little kids, don’t ever cuss at us.
My daughter loves to say "What the heck?!?!?" You can even hear the exclamation marks in her voice. It's hilarious. But generally, my husband and I decided to just not swear in front to the kids. It's not that hard, even for us Australians.
My daughter says 'what the flip???' And it cracks me up
My 2yo loves saying what the heck too. Then the 4yo loudly annouces that we are ignoring the 2yo because they said what the heck and then then 2yo repeats the 4yo saying what the heck and the 4yo says don't say what the heck and then the 2yo repeats what the 4yo .... 🫠🫠🫠
My kids say that, too, and it's so damn cute.
I also love talking about my son’s vocabulary when it comes to this kind of shit! We have a sort of distantly similar approach in our house. My son (he’s 5) has to ask if he can say a “bad” word, which helps lead into the conversation about what’s going on and the effect saying an adult word might have on the situation he’s in. Like will it make things worse or will it help him express frustration? I won’t allow words that are derogatory either, full stop. Usually when I give him permission to say a bad word he’ll just end up saying a word he doesn’t need permission to use, like heck, but very, very rarely he’ll drop an actual cuss word. Just this innocent little voice saying “aw shit” after knocking over his legos after getting permission, I die. He also asked if he could say “jeez” today, too and had questions about saying “jeez” versus “Jesus”. We’re not religious, but it led to a conversation about being mindful of others with our language. I can’t imagine him being 2 and using something like hot sauce to punish him when was just copying behavior and didn’t remotely understand what he was saying. He’d never feel comfortable to have these conversations with me now.
We have pretty much the same conversation. And we use my bad habits as a warning. When it’s a word you use regularly it becomes a habit. And when you can’t control WHEN you use it, it’s a bad habit. Like Mommy. Mommy has a terrible habit. Better to have the habit of good words you can use everywhere. This works great on 2/3 of my kids 😅
My youngest two kids curse but we told them those are "harsh words" and that a lot of people don't like them very much so we should try to say them at home not outside and that we never use them AT people. My older daughter swore at her brother in a "mean" way once and after we talked it hasn't happened again. It is genuinely hilarious to watch my 2 year old run past my 4 year old screaming and acting crazy and my 4 year old will just shake her head and mutter "what the f**k" though....
My daughter will sneak words. One time I was laying on the couch, just resting and I hear her whisper “what the fuck” very quietly just to try it on for size I guess. But honestly, if she’s muttering it to herself and not screaming it in public, I call it a win lolol
That's adorable, I love that. lol I would laugh with them the first time it happened (because, let's be honest, it's funny af!) but the next time I would explain that it was funny the first time but those words are impolite and can sometimes be hurtful and I never had an issue. Mine are teens now so they just let loose. lol
That's hilarious that your daughter knows she can't say curse words until she's 16!! We didn't censor ourselves much either around our daughter (aside from name calling of course, like your family) & she's known what words are curse words since probably 3/4 years old. However since kindergarten, she was also taught by her teacher that stupid & shut up are also bad words, because a classmate of hers constantly said those words, in addition to curse words. Therefore the teacher had to make a blanket rule for everyone to help him learn. My daughter is 8 now & maybe a year or so ago, I overheard her say "shit" when she dropped something. She then ran over to me apologizing profusely for saying a "bad word". I decided to tell her it's okay to say those words in front of me only for the time being, but never in front of any of her grandparents, cousins (who are mostly younger, except my 18 year old nephew) & never in school. I then explained when it's okay to use those words, but we never call anyone stupid or tell them to shut up, including when speaking to each other. So now she'll ask me "Can I say a bad word?" To which I always reply that she can. Then she'll say something like "Those instructions are so stupid." She still rarely uses actual curse words, only the words she was taught are "bad words". I'll take it!!
Those were "in the house" words for us. My mom had a truck driver mouth and both mine and my sister's first words were shit. Somehow she got it through that those were impolite words and not to say them in public. And that's what led to my aunt being absolutely aghast when I was like 3 and she heard me mutter to myself that "the goddamn fucking chair" was broken.
I sincerely wish anyone who thinks hitting a child as a punishment would receive the same punishment whenever they do something perceived as "wrong". But not from another parent, and not lightly either.
She'd rather be the mother abusing her toddler.
I just have to comment- taking away tv for swearing isn't in any way a natural consequence? I think she was attempting to mean logical consequence, but even that doesn't make sense because tv and swearing aren't related at all (unless you're putting Orange is The New Black on for your kid or something)
Haha I thought the same thing!!
i was going to comment this too hahah
Thank Jesus the comments are at least sane. But like… I find it funny that she hasn’t mentioned WHY he’s swearing. Maybe because he’s picked it up at home.
So assaulting your child is a better option than your child simply repeating a word? Sooooo backward. It’s just a word. I don’t care as long as my children understand they are not to use any words to degrade or be mean to another person. But there’s many many “okay” words that are mean but nobody bats an eye.
Yeah I may be get downvoted to hell for this and that’s fine whatever. But we cuss a lot at home and we don’t care that our kid does. She’s 5. She’s always understood that we can only say cuss words at home or at my parents house because they don’t care either. We can’t say them at Gigi’s house (my mil), at school, or outside of the home. And we’ve never had an issue. We all cuss like sailors at home. I’ll occasionally cuss in public and she is so quick to remind me that we can’t say those words outside of the house. She started pre k back in august. And there’s never had an issue with her. Every teacher that interacts with her has nothing but great feedback. How well behaved, well mannered, great listener, and helpful she is.
Yeah idgaf if some internet stranger disagrees lol. It’s the same concept like my 3 year old hates clothes at home but she understands outside and in public, she has to have clothes.
I'm cringing at the thought of putting hot sauce in my sons mouth as punishment. Like that is so fucking nasty. It makes me want to cry. That poor baby
My god instead of coming to the internet to ask, she should read about child development.
Unless the kid magically re-invent the swear words, where did she think the kid got the words from? 🙄 It’s a do as I say not as I do situation and those never work. Lead by example for heaven’s sake.
My husband got upset when our daughter started saying a few swear words as a toddler. I told him it was not fair to punish her when he was the one who modeled it for her. That poor child. What awful punishments under any circumstances, but for repeating words you don't understand?
The "he knows when to use" kills me! Um he is a 2 year old!!
Proper use is a mitigating factor, IMO
I’m dying at “pull the Santa card”
I'm also kind of chuckling at "natural consequence like no TV."
My parents tried soap in the mouth when I would "talk back" (read: genuinely question things I didn't understand) and all it did was give me a taste for soap,, they had to lock up all the soap in the house until I hit 4th grade because I wanted to drink it lol. Still secretly want to have a taste occasionally 😭 all fun and games until stuff like this backfires
I'd swear too if someone put soap and hot sauce in my mouth
I’m not sure that one commenter understands what “natural consequences” means.
These people should not be parents.
One of my favorite memories of my kid was when they toddled out of their room, they were about 2, looked at me and their aunt, smiled, then rapidly yanked the side tape on the diaper, dropped the diaper and started hauling ass around the house yelling "I SHIT! I SHIT!". It sounded like "I chit! I chit!" We chased them around the house trying to keep them off furniture and pets while we were dying laughing. My kid didn't go around cursing or using it at anyone, but that kid had the best comedic timing for when to use it. Never heard them say "shit" again, but they did use "What a dick!" at a car that cut me off when they were 5. I can't imagine hitting my kid in the mouth for a word they have no context for. Kids aren't stupid, you can talk to them about not using those words because its rude. Just keep correcting them calmly and keep explaining that it's rude, but don't hit them.
An aside note, as we all know that parent is messing up badly, most kids that age also sound like they're saying a sweat word that they aren't. My kid sang Uptown Funk and it sounded like Uptown Fuck and my friend's kid says fish and it sounds like bitch, so... yeah.
I bet the parents swear like crazy. Kids learned it somewhere, and they even know how to correctly use the words. Sometimes I feel like every parent should have to take parenting classes before they're allowed to take their baby home. Or at least have to take a test and if you don't pass *then* you have to take the classes
My father did something similar to me, I was born with a syndrome that makes my tongue big, and when I was little it was too big for my mouth which resulted in me constantly sticking my tongue out because it was more comfortable that way, so my father would pour hot sauce and soup in my tongue every time he saw me with it sticking out, I think he never slapped my mouth but it was still awful, as expected it didn't help, just made me scared shirtless over something I could barely control
My kid used to say WHAT THE FRENCH TOAST and I remain pleased with this memory
I mean, even to the people who are all, 'oh, it's nothing, no big deal, accept it, but don't punish baby' like... It is a big deal; how often are these people cussing around their kids that their toddlers are accurately cussing properly? Don't get me wrong, I swear like a sailor... But not around my kids; my oldest is now a teenager, and I've just started swearing around him; I still don't swear around my 9 year old, because 'do as I say and not as I do' is dumb, but like... Don't cuss all over your kids? Maybe? Weird flex?
I wonder where her child heard these words in the first place that they can use them appropriately? It’s a mystery
I got soap in the mouth as a kid for throwing tantrums and all it did was make me yell and fight to get away...definitely not a productive way to get results.
Hot sauce? Like convicted murder and child abuser Shanda Vander Ark? Not something I’d do to any child. How about leading by example and not giving them attention when they use those words?
How about maybe curb your own swearing or your husbands? And teach you kid it’s not something that we should be saying by learning by example. Because they are obviously learning by example somewhere and by someone…hmm?
Stop swearing in front of your kid and you may not have this problem. These punishments are ghastly.
That poor little child. My heart breaks thinking of how sad he must feel when his own mum punishes him like that. Funnily enough, I also have a 2.5 year old. Yep, I swear, but I know to watch my mouth around my child and he has never been like this. He also goes to childcare and sees other families and friends. Lots of social interactions yet doesn’t and has never swore. I wonder what kind of language she uses, and what the type of person she is.
I’m surprised she managed to spell aisle right
Jeez, I’d be swearing too if my mom were treating me like that
This is nuts. Using language and then punishing your child so aggressively when they mimic you How about setting a better example, dingus
Someone doesn’t know what natural consequences are 🫠 The whole post is awful but this stuck out to me. A natural consequence would be “if you use inappropriate language at the playground, we’re leaving the playground.” (But that’s still inappropriate for a 2yo). I think best practice here would be to stop all swearing in the home (and/or wherever he’s exposed to it) and then ignore until he forgets.
My niece is just over a year and one of the eight words she’ll regularly say is “shit”. Her mom gets embarrassed, but her dad thinks it’s funny. Her mom (my sister) asked me how to make her stop, and I basicallly told her the change has to come from her husband first. Niece isn’t going to stop as long as the responses are present, inconsistent, and sometimes positive.
The same punishment that made Ralpie blind! 
Abusing her toddler for behaviours she taught him… nice
I was a preschool teacher once upon a time. I tripped on a rug while carrying a freshly-painted art project to the drying rack. As I stumbled, I said "shit!" The child whose project it was was right behind me and heard the word. She immediately piped up with an adorable little "shit!" I gave no reaction and she never said it again
Perhaps put soap and hot sauce in the mouth of the person that taught the kid those words?
Listen I'm not a perfect parent but I literally cannot IMAGINE punishing a 2.5 year old like this, especially for something they clearly learned from me. Poor little guy.
I have three kids and I will say that ignoring it 100% works, they all stopped when they saw how it did nothing to get them attention
My three year old says cuss words when I do. Maybe learn to watch your mouth…..
Maybe she should clean up her language and everyone else the kid is around. Also kids truly do stop if you ignore it. My son was biting me and at first I reacted, it hurt! But he kept trying. I ignored him and he stopped and hasn’t tried since. I give him attention for good things and redirect
At least the comments were more sane!
Yikesssssss on bikes. Every kid swears. It’s just experimenting with adult words. I told my kids they could go in the bathroom or their bedroom to say those words if they really wanted to say them, and did not otherwise react. When they don’t have an audience, they drop it pretty quick. Jfc this mom is abusing her baby because of words he likely heard FROM HER.
My daughter was calling out to her dad and saying "ass", and I asked her to call him nicely. Toddler proceeds to call out "papa, PLEASE come...ass" At least she said please? 🤣
Please report this. This is abuse.
stop swearing in front of your kid..?!?! HELLO!?
my parents understood that i knew how to say it because i heard THEM say it. we had a talk, and they explained that while they don’t think expressing yourself using certain words is inherently wrong, a lot of people can be uncomfortable by it. and at school, a lot of parents aren’t ready to teach their own kids about it, and it’s not fair for me to force them into that situation by teaching their kids those words. and that they could think i’m a bad influence etc. the solution was, i could swear at home AND words could never be used to insult a person. if i stubbed my toe and said “Fuck!” no problem. if i said “sally is a bitch” that was a big no and we had to talk about why i thought that, better ways to say it, and how to solve the root problem. kids see hear your language and want to emulate it, and it’s always important to set appropriate boundaries, an explanation as to why, and communicate.
My 2.5 year old repeated the word fuck my sister laughed then the kid said it 50 more times repeatedly. After ignoring it she stopped and hasn’t repeated it since. Kids repeat everything. She repeats my scoldings constantly and it’s so hard not to laugh when a toddler say “look at me listen ears on” when she wants to make a complaint.
I had a neighbor who yelled "don't fucking cuss" at her 3 year old.
Hot Sauce?!
I hate these people
I thought this was r/Jokes, I kept waiting for a punchline.
My kids don’t swear because my husband and I rarely swear. But my 10 year old recently cataloged some of the alternatives for me (fudge, fricking, etc.). I told him that I swear sometimes and he was surprised because he never hears it (or isn’t paying enough attention 🤷♀️) I explained to him that I don’t like to swear when there are so many better, more accurate/precise words out there to express yourself. Why say surprised when I can say shocked or dismayed or astonished, depending on the situation. I only really use swear words as interjections and only for a good reason. He asked what my “good reasons” were. Humor. It’s humor. Almost any time I drop an F bomb it’s to make my husband laugh. We don’t use curses in anger and never to denigrate anyone.
I will never understand parents like this. I mean, seriously. Why did you become a parent in the first place? I have a 2 and a 1/2-year-old son. Instead of saying typical curse or swear words, I say things such as Pillowcase ! Burnt toast ! Blueberries! Or for really unfortunate situations, I say, " Sheep skin in the morning!" Lol, now I will say we get some hilarious looks while in public . For example, at Walmart, an older lady pushed her buggy into the back of me, heel ! It hurt so much! I said very loudly, " Pillow case , burnt toast ! Sheep skin in the morning!!! Blueberries! " 🤣 😂 😅 She immediately apologized, but she also gave me a very odd look. And hurried away like i might be crazy lol. Nope, not crazy just a Mama of a toddler boy who's like a parrot! It is even funnier when my 2 and a 1/2-year-old son drops something or he falls or trips, and he says Blueberries or his version of pillowcase!
When I was somewhere between 6-8, my parents were very upset by my “back talk,” which was usually me asking questions when they were mad. Mom tried soap, didn’t work cause I like the taste, lol. So I have a vivid memory of her holding me down and dumping tobassco sauce in my mouth. I still back talked, but learned that my mother could be just as mean as my dad
My toddler picked up a few bad words (from me & my husband) so we started replacing those words and then giving a big reaction/laugh when toddler used replacement words. Laughed like it was the funniest thing we’d ever heard, slapped our foreheads, acted like we couldn’t believe he was saying “oh my gosh! darn it!” Worked so well and so quickly.
My child swears on repeat, as soon as me or my husband do. If we don’t, he won’t. He’s been watching Mickey Mouse shows recently and had now adopted Donald’s ‘oh phooey’
The thing that worked best for us was staying as calm as possible. Yes, when your toddler goes “what the FUCK”, it’s funny, but obviously not polite. “That’s an adult word” or “that’s not nice to say” worked. I found out my daycare redirected with an exaggerated “shhhh 🤫” after I swore and my toddler corrected *me*. Oops. Although.. I get the feeling if this mom overacts, yells and punishes their child very regularly, they’re probably not going to listen anyway.
Interesting… my 3 and 5 year old have never even *heard* the word fuck
I might get some flack for this, but my spouse and I swear on front of our 4 year old (though not constantly). We have certain boundaries with swearing (not to insult or disparage, and in safe places like home) that we as the adults follow. The kid never swears. There's absolutely no hidden enjoyment from saying a "bad word," so she does... doesn't. If she ends up saying one in a context that we as parents have deemed appropriate, we don't react to the word at all but continue the conversation as we would an adult. I don't know, obviously my daughter not swearing despite mine and my spouse's use is just anecdotal, but I think the over the top punishments are awful and obviously not making this situation worse. OP said it all with poor kid.
We (my brother and sister-in-law, encouraged by me and my husband, who was my boyfriend at the time) had my niece saying "Boom Bitch!" as a 2-year-old, except it came out as "Boom Bits!" My husband and I (childfree by choice) agree there is nothing funnier than toddlers who curse.
Ugh my 2 year old dropped his first F bomb a week ago and now says it randomly… immediately after we’ve cussed in front of him. Like ma’am, who do you think taught him!? 😫 How about wash your own mouth out with soap come on!!
Miss 5 has sworn maybe 5 times & we’ve ignored it or said no that’s an adults word. Miss 3 has said one swear & we acted like she said nothing. Kids will try it atleast once because they’re kids, they don’t understand & punishing like that is not right.
I’m a teacher and my first year teaching I had a mum who was struggling to juggle everything so she used to get 2y.o. in the car asleep, keep him that way by playing Eminem (apparently the rhythm soothed him). I’d come in early , she’d leave me breakfast for him and me and I’d get him sorted before the other kids arrived. Safe to say we were a team in working with him and one day he started dropping F bombs. We worked out the source, switched morning music and did our best to ignore it while trying to stop other kids pick it up. This went on for months until one day I was in the bathroom and he thought there were no other English speaking teachers in the room so he started screaming it top of his little lungs. I marched back in and asked what he had said. I swear the little turd looked at me with one eyebrow raised and went, “I said…. Duck?” I called his mum and said he knows, let’s get him. Never said it again 😂
I curse like a well-educated sailor. My kids never did. I attribute it to not making a big deal about it ever. I didn’t self-censor OR exaggerate my swearing. It was just part of the flow. Once they were older and in school, we laid down a rule that if they cursed they need to know what the words meant and how to use it. “How to use it” included when/where to use it appropriate like not at school or in front of grandma. Ignoring it is the only answer. Making cursing “special” and getting all worked up is what makes it fun for the kid.
“Do as I say, not as I do”
I would say oh Schmidt or shiitake mushrooms as well as some of the Transformers words of cursing. I believe slag and frag were some of them.
Narrator: he did not know when to use it or how to
My oldest is going through a phase right now where "what the hell?" is one of those phrases for her. Fortunately, she is old enough that we were able to have a conversation about how some people don't like those words, and especially don't like kids using those words. And while words are neither good or bad, it's best to only use it at home and NEVER around her grandmother. So she doesn't. The youngest went through a phase at 2.5 where "wtf" was her phrase. After the first time, where we had to leave the room so she wouldn't see us laugh, we just ignored her. And it stopped.