The other day, I found the note above on the counter.
It was one of those things that made me feel a bit conflicted. I was fairly impressed with the note since my son is only halfway through first grade. That’s a darned good note.
I was, however, concerned about the incident that prompted the note so I called both children into the room. Here is a transcription of the conversation.
“Diego, did Lydia say a bad word to you?”
“She said a VERY bad word,” my son responded.
“Lydia, what word did you say?” I asked my four-year-old daughter.
“F*** you!” my daughter said with a enthusiastic grin.
“She’s not supposed to say that!” said my son.
Indeed she is not. I was sort of surprised because my husband and I have been watching our language for a number of years now.
“Aren’t you going to punish her?” asked my son.
If my son had said the word, I definitely would have punished him. He knows he is not supposed to say that word under any circumstances. The problem is that my daughter had no idea that it was a “bad” word. It’s a bit unfair to punish someone who has no idea she’s done something wrong. So, I will have to explain the difference between acceptable and unacceptable words to her. I will also be hanging on to this note because it was the funniest thing I’ve seen in a while.
Christa T. Palmer is a mother of 2 small children who lives in Colorado. She worked in the corporate world for more than a decade, but she was laid off the day after returning from maternity leave. Since then, she has worked as a freelance writer.
I smell a setup.
You think she's been framed?
I think it's a definite possibility.
Brother teaches sister bad word(s).
Brother sets note.
Brother asks parents to get sister in trouble.
It could be the pilot for CSI: Babytown
*snort*
just be glad she did not say it at school!
My husband's favorite expletive is "g-ddammit." He's managed to (mostly) rein it in at this point, but while our daughter was in church pre-school, I lived in fear she'd bust it out there.
In my house she gets punished, and Diego too for just being associated. Problem solved.
Dang – you always seemed like such a softie!
Whoa! That's pretty bad. Do you know where she learned it?
No. I've been known to drop an f-bomb, although I'm very careful these days. I never say f-you though.
The hardest part about kid swearing is that at least half the time it is really hard not to laugh.
I almost cracked at the look on her face when she said it. She had no idea.
The best swear I ever heard come from the mouth of a little kid came from the mouth of Pablo- a 4 year old in my son's class at day school many years ago, "Chinga madre, güey."
Runner up was last year when one of the mice from the Nutcracker (who couldn't have been older than 5) blurted out, "Fuck this," when rehearsal ran overtime.
It is the best when the older child puts the younger one in timeout. I once heard Pooh say to Peep, "Go sit in a corner and think about your life!" "Oh man!" said Peep as if it were the worst thing in the world. But he did go do it.
My son was fairly shocked with her.