Sweet Niblets!

I’ve never been one to teach my kids that they can’t say “bad” words.  I don’t think any word is “bad” (well, except for the actual word “bad”, since, um, it is actually that word…).  I do teach them that certain words are inappropriate for someone their age to be uttering and that when they are older it will be their choice whether they want to incorporate them into their vocabulary.  Nor do I shelter them from hearing profanity.  Words, to me, all exist for a reason.   

The first time ElderChild swore she was 6 years old.  We’d watched “Back To The Future” with her a few days prior and it surprised us by being littered with “the S-word”.  (Somehow in the dozen times I watched that movie in my teen years I never noticed the swearing.  Hmm.)  ElderChild was fighting with her shoelaces.  No matter her efforts, they would not produce a bow for her.  After multiple failures the frustration hit a climax and she spat out an exasperated “SHIT!”.  But before I could even respond, an absolutely mortified look overtook her entire face as she gasped and said “Uh!  No!  What’s the appropriate word for a 6-year old to say?” to which I responded: “You know the word ‘appropriate’?  That’s excellent!  You even used it right!”

Fast-Forward 6 years.  YoungerChild has a MadLibs book out as we’re driving in the car.  When we play this in the car, we use the suggested noun/verb/adjective etc. of the first person to call one out (although sometimes we conceed to use the funniest response if it wasn't the first).  The more ludicrous the better.  (“Part of the body” – “tonsil” – you get the idea).  Today we needed an “expression of surprise” and I called out “Holy crap!” (not all surprises are good, afterall…) and as YoungerChild started to write that on the page, ElderChild scolded her “You can’t write that down!  It’s a swear word!” YoungerChild kept it anyway (it was the first response, afterall) and the completed MadLib was hilarious.  My mind is still churning this one, tho… which was the swear?  “Holy”?  or “crap”?  Maybe that’s why that kid on TV uses “sweet niblets” all the time.  … oh, and btw the appropriate word for a 6-year-old we decided would be “shoot”, but she never used either again.