Learning Bad Words

Anders and Ellis both got a lesson on bad words this week.  Anders was sitting on my lap and asking me if certain words were "bad words." But all the words he asked about were benign -- "yuck," "old man," "nasty."  Then he pops out with: "Mama, is 'what the f^ck' a bad word?"  He said it with such innocence.  It was shocking and adorable at the same time.  All I could muster was, "What did you just say?" Of course, he repeated it without flinching.  So I explained that it was a very bad thing to say and he would make people angry and get in trouble for saying it.  

The next day as Mike left the house for work, Anders calls out, "Bye, Dad. Have a good day. And remember not to say 'what the f^ck' at school! You will get in trouble!" So we had the conversation about not saying that word at home or at school. He informed me that he only says it really quietly, and I had to explain that it still wasn't ok.

Turns out he learned the phrase from his friend Dillon at school.  Ms. Weekes said they had an incident in class where Dillon just busted out with it.  And while you might expect that kids would pick up bad words in DC public schools, the twist is the kid that taught this bad word is the one from the wealthiest kid in the class.

Ellis was introduced to the middle finger.  She explained to us that it means the 'f' word, "and not 'f-a-t!"  Up until today, she thought that was the 'f' word.  I was also in first grade when I learned about the middle finger being a bad thing.