April 5, 2012
Malachi went through a stage, in fourth grade, where
he cussed. He never did so around us but
admitted to doing it at school on the playground. Kylah is now going through that same
stage. She does not have the ability to
do so behind our backs since she is with us all the time. So, she pushes the envelope often. Recently, the kids approached me and asked if
they could please use the words “ass” and “shit”. I said yes.
I wanted to see what would happen.
I know that words are mere symbols assigned by accepted by society and
that they were words that would not hurt anyone.
For the first week, they used the words in as many
different ways as possible. They
combined them in descriptions or yelled them randomly. I did my best to ignore them and not
encourage them. Justin, of course,
encouraged them as often as possible.
They quickly grew tired of the new words and are now cussing less than
ever!
I know this may not be the most accepted parenting
approach, but it is ours. I think that
they want to push boundaries and see what they can get away with. It just wasn’t as fun anymore since they
didn’t get a rise out of us. Being on
the road has brought more patience into parenting and we have definitely not
had near as many rules as when we were home.
The kids, in turn, have greatly matured.
They take responsibility for themselves and contribute when work has to
be done. We can take down camp in less
than an hour and the kids do their fair share of the work. In return, I let them express themselves,
even if they must use the term “shitty ass” to do so.
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