Watch Your Language

My son has learned new words. Ok, he hasn't learned new words, but rather, he decided to string them together in a fashion that is a little different than the original context. He called his sister a stupid asshole fucker. Then he got his mouth washed out with soap.

I've told several people about this lately, but I don't think I actually got across why I was upset. This isn't the first time he's had his mouth washed out with soap. The first time immediately followed him calling me a poopy yo-yo. I'm not worried about him using bad words. I don't think that words are bad. The intention behind the words is what can be bad. I don't want him to say hurtful things to people. I don't want him to lash out with words, solely intended to make the recipient sad. That's no better than physically attacking another person.

He did not get punished for asking "What the fuck is going on here?" the week before. When he said that, I told him that he has to watch where and when he uses that sort of language...but I did not punish him. Saying that was not hurtful to anyone. At least not anyone who was in the room at the time. I'm sure that there are plenty of people out there who would be greatly offended, and I'm all for trying to avoid offending random people. I'm also all for expressing yourself. If "I don't give a flying fuck" gets your point across better than "I don't have an opinion on the subject," I think you should say it. Just not in front of a little old lady who might go into cardiac arrest if she's exposed to the F word.

I expect our impending trip to TN to be an educational experience for the boy. Tennessee...the land of the backhanded compliment. The place where you can say anything negative you want about a person, as long as you smile when you say it, and follow it with "bless her heart." I'm thinking that after the trip, he'll start referring to Megan as "That stupid asshole fucker, bless her heart." While grinning like a maniac.