Swearing
So, I have a ten year old daughter. She knows all the swear words thanks to her reputable, middle class, church school. She knows that I swear, and I know that she swears. Now I have a dilemma: Do I swear in front of her (i.e. be open and honest), or try not to cuss in front of her (i.e. pretend that I don’t swear)?
This is part of a bigger dilemma I have with being a parent. Parents, on the whole, lie to their kids about pretty much everything. I don’t want to do that. My aim is for me and her to be open about things, whether they are to do with our relationship or with society. If I lie to her, I feel that she will hate me later in life. If I tell her the reality of how life is and what is going on, I feel that I am robbing her of her childhood. On top of this, I get it in the neck from her mum for pretty much anything that she disagrees with. This is coming from someone who told their little girl that if she didn’t go to sleep RIGHT NOW, the magic owl was going to come and get her (she didn’t sleep at all that night). Good work mum!
At the moment, I feel damned if I do, and damned if I don’t. I’m coming to the conclusion that no matter what I do, someone somewhere is going to be upset with it. Therefore, I am going to say and do what I want, and to hell with them all!
April 22nd, 2007 at 2:56 am
Hmmm I have an interesting opinion on this
You see swearing has become somewhat part of our every day language, but I dont think it should be
Its something I do more when Im stressed. For instance at work.
If Im around family I very very rarely swear because im relaxed and feel its more respectful not to
I dont think its lying if you swear less around your kid, I mean if you stub your toe or something then “oh fuck” is appropriate, but using it casually throughout conversation does sort of give the wrong impression
Swearing is fine to express anger or stress, I think sometimes we use it too much and it loses meaning
April 25th, 2007 at 9:45 am
Good point, i swear more when im stressed too… It does lose meaning when used every other word in conversation, it tends to happen when im driving and/or at work