Parenting Kids – For the first time in a long time, my 6 year old daughter surprised me beyond words,
two days in a row.
Bluntly put, my daughter called her lifelong friend a [email protected]
His Mom and I were stunned when he ran up to us to tell the story,
“Isabelle called me a [email protected], and it’s not nice to say [email protected] It’s a bad word that [email protected]!”
{…wow. Both our mouths were wide open}
So, my friend and I took some time to gather information from them both, and find out what happened. Apparently she was on the toilet and he was trying to get in so she said, “Get out of here, [email protected]!”.
Let me start by saying that this is a first for her, except when one ‘son of a b!tch’ escaped her mouth when she was 5 and couldn’t get Barbies shirt on her
{it is frustrating sometimes, you know}.
So, my punishment after she apologized to her friend, was canceling our weekly movie night that night. She really looks forward to this time and was very sad, but I think it worked becasue…
After that late night, I expected the kids to sleep in a bit the next morning. But, alas, they were up before 7am. I heard giggles and footsteps in the livingroom as I laid in bed wishing time would rewind just a couple more hours. Soon, I heard cupboards and drawers slamming shut in the kitchen, so I brushed my teeth and headed out to the to have a peek.
Low and behold my daughter had gotten the Twins into their highchairs and there they sat, bibs on – eating a breakfast of cereal and yogurt. My daughter looked up and said, “Mom, I made your coffee {she pushed ‘start’ on my prepared-the-night before cup at the Keurig}. I’ll do it all this morning, you go relax”.
{Knock me on the floor!!}
So, I sipped and listened from the other room as my daughter and her potty mouth cleaned up the Twins from breakfast, and loaded the dishes into the dishwasher. She then took the Twins into their room and changed their diapers {yes, she did!}, and got them dressed. As I sipped my morning coffee and tried not to choke in the process, she then took them into the bathroom and brushed their teeth, brushed their hair and put pretty hair clips in, to match their dresses.
{I’m about dead at this point.}
Then, Isabelle took the girls back into the kitchen where they all sat on the floor and colored together. Then, she got out her favorite dolls and they played house. And they didn’t fight – for an hour and a half!!! Sound the trumpets, confetti in the air, and scream hallelujah! {fighting occurs ever 2-3 minutes in this house, by the way}.
I feel like a queen today. I got the morning off and watched my girls be so nice to each other! Have I won the lottery or am I being Punked?
Long story short, I think she made up for the [email protected] talk from last night, what do you think? Even with the cursing, I’m a pretty proud Mom and I have to pat myself on the back today. She will be a great mother one day, she has such a gentle and helping heart. But, if any man tries to sneak a peek at her privates, she knows when to tell him off with one loud F-Bomb. Yep, my daughter will be one feisty and rockin’ woman!
~
[email protected] Accustomed Choas says
10/16/2010 at 11:56 pmYou are a great mom! My kids have occasionally swear-ed (and my jaw DROPPED) but they used it in context (the S word when they dropped a toy). We are all doing the best we can & i think it is important to teach our girls (and boys) to speak their mind – even if the very occasional F bomb drops. 😉
Tammi says
10/17/2010 at 12:09 amI agree Devan. She felt terrible so I’m not worried that It’ll become a habit or anything.
Karen T says
10/17/2010 at 12:00 amOne thing I’ve found when encountering very young children uttering a curse word is they just don’t get what they’re saying. I usually ask them what they think the word means so I can find out where the problem is. One of my sons told us to “look at the frucker” when he was really little. After questioning him about what he was saying, he told us that he was talking about the “frucker” who was driving that big “fruck.” We realized that he meant to say TRUCKER and was pronouncing it wrong. Since this happened several times in public, we worked with him on pronouncing it better. I’m amazed at your daughter’s compliance with her sentence. Way to go, mom!
Tammi says
10/17/2010 at 12:06 amI’m still unsure if she knew what it meant or not. In one sense she used it in context but when I asked her what it meant, she had no idea. She even kind of said it wrong. {I really felt like chuckling…but didn’t…until I was in the other room, that is}
Ha!
Doris C says
10/17/2010 at 12:02 amAwe, I love this story this is so great and you should pat yourself on the back what a good job you are doing with her , look at what she did, that over rides one little swear, and by the way if she were not so young it would be the right thing to say!!!
Tammi says
10/17/2010 at 12:07 amThat is so true Doris!
Eileen says
10/17/2010 at 12:20 amI agree with Karen…I always asked my kids if they knew what they were REALLY saying…of course at that age I couldn’t really explain THAT word! Whipping the bird, SOB and all that is something I never put up with. My older kids tease me still because they were not even allowed to say fart (they said, ” I “gassed” & that kills me now thinking about it!) They couldnt say dummy, stupid, poop, etc, etc…I felt they were “GATEWAY” cuss words. LOL! My reasoning was that in church, in front of Grandmas, or at school or the store they might talk like that and I had to explain to them not only do people judge for being disrespectful to OTHERS this way…it is disrespecting themSELVES! I have one of my six (now 23) that started swearing to be “cool” when in high school and it became a habit she still cant break. She HAS dropped the F bomb on dear old Grandma before. OUCH! My 3 at home would never dream of saying this purposely (and living through it…haha) but I know they probably do it out of the house (ages 11, 13, &17). I do believe there is WAY too much of this on movies and even regular tv sometimes. I also believe kids take a lot of cues from parents and I have to say I can get pretty colorful once in a while (and it sure isnt about dressing FREAKING barbies! LOL!)
You were ACE on catching her and a great punishment. WOW..what a great lesson & a sweet kid! Your story made me laugh and want one of MY kids to swear. Maybe I could get a floor washed & toilets cleaned out of it. (giggle***;)
Tracy @ Cotton Pickin Cute says
10/17/2010 at 2:33 amYou story telling is great. That’s just too funny Tammie! I’m just amazed that your daughter did so much – wow. That shows what a good mommie you are. I’ll never forget the time in elementary school that I came home and proudly said this in front of my mother and aunt: “I learned a new dance today. It’s called the F*cking Chicken”. I couldn’t understand why they kept saying no it’s not and what did you say. Yes, I’m that old, it was the 60’s, desegregation had just ended and the hip black girls taught us a new dance. Of course I had no idea I was saying it wrong or even what that word meant.
Hugs…Tracy
Tammi says
10/17/2010 at 10:17 pmthat is awesome Tracy!
alissa apel says
10/17/2010 at 11:14 amI’d say she made up for it. Mica went through a faze where he said, “God dam it!” It was a week before Bible school that he started saying it. I was in panic mode. They just copy what they hear from tv, an adult, public, who knows. Much of the time they know when they say bad words. It takes making a mistake to learn from it. I’m glad she was playing well with the twins! She sounds like she’s growing up! All your kids are so cute!
Tammi says
10/17/2010 at 10:17 pmThanks so much Alissa!
{hugs}
Kayla says
10/17/2010 at 2:24 pmWow! All I can say is wow-That shows great strength of character on yours and her part when she can learn what she did is bad and try THAT hard to make up for it.
Congratulations on your extremely grown up young lady 🙂
Erin Nicole says
10/17/2010 at 9:30 pmOH…this post made me laugh, because I can totally picture the whole thing! You acted very calmly and responsibly though, which I think is great! It is good that you did punish her though, because kids need to learn that swearing is bad (I hate hate hate when people swear). Great job and nicely handeled!!
Thao says
10/17/2010 at 9:58 pmThat is pretty amazing. I have a hard time dealing with my own twins sometimes.
Tammi says
10/17/2010 at 10:18 pmAnd it only gets better as they age, Thao
{nose growing rapidly}
Ha! Each age has it’s obstacles!
🙂
Alyssa M says
10/17/2010 at 11:22 pmI had no idea a 6 yr old was capable of doing all that! (the morning after I mean). You must be doing something right!
Lena says
10/18/2010 at 5:27 amThis post made my morning (and my week possibly!) You are blessed, girl, that you have such a loving, intuitive little girl. Her little sisters are so lucky!
Genieve says
10/18/2010 at 7:42 amlol, wow what a story. That is pretty amazing! What a great little girl you have 🙂