One of the toughest challenges of parenting is ??? ??????? ????????trying not to swear around your children -- especially after they’ve poured an entire tub of yogurt in your lap or you've stepped barefoot onto one of the thousand lego pieces strewn across your living room.
But what if we could let that rule go and just say whatever happens to fly off our tongue?
That’s exactly what blogger Constance Hall advocates in a very refreshing Facebook post she wrote last week. She offers a powerful explanation of why she’s fine with dropping f-bombs in front of her kids, and it’s eliciting strong reactions -- but not for the reason you might think.
Hall takes pains to explain that it’s not as simple as just dropping those a-words and s-words with abandon. She says, “I only ever swear for emphasis, I never swear at anyone.” And she adds that her habit doesn't mean her kids automatically imitate it. They know there are certain words that are only for mom.
There are plenty of other things that are just for grown-ups -- hands off my wine, kid. Why should cursing be any different? Especially if you're able to teach them that it's really the feelings and intention behind what you're saying that matter most.
SEE ALSO: Mom-shaming is real, and we all need to shut the hell upThat doesn't mean they'll never utter an uncouth expression, of course. Hall says her son Arlo has reached age where his friends have more influence on him than she does, and, guess what? They like to swear. It's all part of living in our modern world.
So maybe there's no need to bend over backwards to try to keep our children's ears as pure as their hearts? It's especially encouraging that the reaction to Hall's post has been largely positive, with plenty of fellow moms sharing their favorite swearing-related anecdotes.
This really has proved to be the rare nuanced discussion of a fraught parenting topic, and it's totally f*cking refreshing.
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