"I hate you!"
"You're stupid"
"You're a....sh-t head!"
"No, YOU are a sh-t head!"
{gasp!} Whaaaaaaatttt???
"KIDS! FOLLOW ME!"
I marched those two little potty mouths straight up to the bathroom. And locked the door.
Eyes widened. "What are we doing here?"
Me, very calm (which I am sure freaked them out all the more): "Open your mouths, I heard you say a dirty word and now I need to clean your mouths out with soap."
Kids, eyes even wider: "What do you mean?"
I reach for the good old bar soap, not the nice fruit flavoured foamy variety. "If you speak like that in my house, I am going to wash your mouth out with soap. Every time."
Kids, now wailing and apologizing, hands clasped over mouths: "No, Mama, nooooooo!!!!"
Well, you better believe I followed through on that threat, and instructed them to look me in the eye as I did it. They gagged and sputtered and drank large amounts of water after. Then they gave me hugs and said they were sorry. And, in the weeks since, I have never heard that word again........
Sometimes, you gotta kick it Old School!
***********************
Middle Child walks up to Big G and presents him a ticket with the letters BS on it.
Me: "What's that for?"
Middle Child: It's a ticket to get into my new club. The B.S. Club."
Me (pause): "Why do you call it the B.S. Club?"
Middle Child: "Because it is a special club only for brothers and sisters!"
So, in the end, I am grateful that they are still just kids at heart!
Good for you! And yes, nice to see that they really are still just kids at heart. In our house (years ago) I did the same thing and I can honestly say that my grown-up kids are very pleasant and polite! At one time my daughter had used a dirty word, looked at me and proceeded to the bathroom to wash her own mouth out with soap!
ReplyDeleteGood for you! I would have done the same thing.
ReplyDeletehope the lesson sticks!
ReplyDeleteGood for you! So many parents just talk and reason with their kids which doesn't go very far most the time. Consequences are such good reminders...
ReplyDeleteThe B.S. Club made me smile!
Jennifer :)
No doubt they won't forget that lesson soon! :)
ReplyDeletethe more we get to know one another, the more i'm sure we're kindred spirits! omg...I am laughing so hard...to have been a fly on the wall during that event! LOL! i myself had many a good "soaping" from my mother to clean out my potty mouth. and she, like you, never went for the nice fruity kind or the smooth Dove bar...nope...i got the nasty Fels Naptha from the laundry room or the scummy "man bar soap".
ReplyDeletei think my favorite part is that you made them look you in the eye the whole time...classic. reminds me of that scene in The Christmas Story when Ralphie says the "F dash dash dash" word...oh gracious...I'm seriously gonna chuckle over this all day.
Swearing is one of those things that probably warrants a consequence. You can ignore it but it rarely stops. Kids need to know it's not OK (Look at me being all high and mighty when Im a potty mouth - but I dont do it in front of kids!)
ReplyDeleteOn the flip side I love the B.S. Club story.
Good for you! Sometimes (often?) the old tried-and-true methods are awesome simply because they DO work!
ReplyDeleteAhahahahah!!! Love it!! Xxx yes I'm old school all the way! Xx
ReplyDeleteBeen there, done that...happy to hear I am not the only one!
ReplyDeleteGood for you. They're not going to do that again in a hurry.
ReplyDeleteGood for you! I'm proud of you!
ReplyDeleteMy mother did that to me (without the hugs) and I never used dirty words in front of her again!
ReplyDeleteOh Man, I still remember when I got my mouth washed out with soap! I think it was Ivory. Blech! I still remember what I called my brother. It wasn't very nice. he he he
ReplyDeleteI can just picture your outrage!
Ohhh. I distinctly remember my mom making me bite and chew from a bar of Ivory soap. I was traumatized. But I never swore around her again! ;-) Good job, mom! =)
ReplyDeleteGood for you! My parents are totally old school and I plan to be the same way with my kids. I still feel wierd about saying damn in front of my mom. Stick to your old school guns.
ReplyDeleteI remember when that happened to me when I was younger, but I didn't get water for a while after...But to this day, I don't swear in front of my mom!
ReplyDelete