On Children and Swearing

My children have learned to speak, and along the way they’ve learned words that seemingly have power. They know their “potty talk” like poop, caca, pee, and wiener. They also know, and have used (accurately) hell, damn, shit, bitch, and fuck. I’ve used all of them in their presence. My wife doesn’t like those words (as swear words, she uses “bitch” scientifically), but they don’t bother me one whit. Do we [coercively] prohibit our children from using them? Of course not. I simply explain to my kids that certain people, like mommy, don’t like to hear those words, so it would be courteous to not use them around her. The potty talk is much more common than the swear words, but they’re pretty good at watching what they say around others that might take offense. I do likewise. And that’s today’s two cents.

Skyler.