I don’t swear. Seriously, other than sometimes saying ‘bloody’ when extremely wound up, I don’t really swear, never have and never will, I’ve always been brought up to believe it’s something you do when you can’t find a more constructive way to express yourself and I like to think my vocabulary is wide enough to handle most situations.That being said, sometimes a minor swear word seems more satisfying than saying “fudge” when you drop a tinned can on your foot.
I was out with a good friend and her daughter the other day, having a picnic lunch and a paddle in an amazing park in London. Unfortunately for us the spot we chose to hide from the rays was right next to another family who had no qualms about using a tonne of swear words as commonly as they did the word ‘and’ in fact, I think they probably replaced ‘and’ with ‘f*ck’ instead. Princess and her friend G were too busy running in and out of the pool to notice what conversations were happening around them but both my friend and I were happy to consider packing up camp and moving to calmer shores with quieter neighbours if the girls decided to sit down.
In that situation, in an area surrounded by young children and families, would you feel comfortable to ask the people around you to mind their language or is it up to you to simply move? I’ve been in situations where people at the bus stop have sworn or said something sexually explicit, then, seeing Princess standing next to me, had apologised profusely and turned bright red. Princess always looks puzzled and asks why the person is apologising but I’m still glad that they do apologise. If anyone is going to corrupt my child’s behaviour I’d like it to be me and seeing as I go out of my way to try and make her as polite and well-mannered as I can, I can’t see me trying to corrupt her anytime soon!
Have you ever been in a position where the people around you have been swearing or behaving in an inappropriate manner in front of your children, or have you ever acted in a way you’re not proud of in front of someone else’s?? Ooh that would be interesting to read about!
