Children

I've noticed that the more my son plays with other children in general, the more lippy he is becoming. Perhaps this is a normal spot for a 6 1/2 year old. But it still hits me like a brick wall when I hear certain things pop out of his mouth. I often find myself thinking that I would never have spoken that way to my mother or father. I wonder if I did and somehow don't remember now about being reprimanded for it. Whether I did or not is inconsequential now, because I am the parent. Short of stopping my son in the midst of his "words" and pointing out its inappropriateness, I'm not sure what to do. I don't want to make a federal case out of it, but I do want to command respect and know that he should learn the meaning of the word. I see a lack of it constantly.

Last week for instance, a boy in his class decided to tell everyone what the middle finger was about. Luckily he didn't use the words because I haven't quite figured out how to handle the whole swearing topic yet. Now maybe I sound overprotective, but I'm just trying to plant my son's mind with beauty and not vulgarity. After all, the more he struggles into life, the more it will all become part of daily life unfortunately. I feel I must do everything I can to enforce the power of positive thinking in a very negative world. We'll see what other dandy thing he comes home with tonight.