Little Red Riding Hood: Dad, what does F&CK mean? (uh yeah, that "F" word)
The Man: Excuse me, what did you say?
LRRH: What does F%CK mean?
The Man: Where did you hear that?
LRRH: The boys at school were talking about it being on a wall somewhere.
The Man: Well, it's a very bad word.
LRRH: Why?
The Man: It just is. Do you hear Mom and Dad ever say it?
LRRH: No.
The Man: That's because it's a very very bad word.
LRRH: Oh. I promise I won't ever say it.
End of conversation.
Third Grade, people. She learned the "F" word in Third friggin' grade. I was in high school when I first heard that word. Sigh.
The damage is done, and my sweet baby girl's ears will never be the same again.
As a result, I'll never be the same again.
58 Comments:
Third grade? Please say it ain't so!
I first learned of this word at that same age, though...it was spray painted on an old house that we frequently drove past. One day I just asked Mama, "What does 'mother *&@$er' mean?"
Yep...to this day I still remember that. Sigh...
Oh no. That's just so young. It's just sad. I feel for you. And her. And then again, when will be the first time my child hears it?? ugh. I can't even think about it.
Oh girl. I am so sorry. This is the part of letting our babies out into the world that just stinks.
It is so sad to see their innocence go a bit at a time.
Yeah. That's a big one.
Then there's MY two year-old sweetie pie whose wet hands are covered in pasty sand and she says, "Ah, s**t" with just that hint of adultness. Yeah. Wow. Or her twin brother who substituted f for 'tr' and was obsessed with trucks at that same young age.
Um, in my defense, I'm pretty sure it was her daddy that 'taught' her that top one. And the speech path mommy quickly 'taught' the boy how to make at least a [t] in his blends!
It's such a shame when they are exposed at such a young age. I unfortunely have a four year old sweet girl who learned it from her much older teenage brother and friends. I was very upset.
That is so upsetting. I guess we can't shelter them forever. Just keep being the wonderful example you are and she will live the same way!
That's heartbreaking. :-(
What's even worse is I've heard kindergarten kids use that word. Five year olds !!!! I've heard 1st Graders cal each other Motherf*****s. It makes me so sad and like you, I wonder where the kiddies got it from.
But then you pass their parent's cars outside the school and here the rap music that's turned up loud and it all becomes clear. :-(
That is so funny that you posted about this... because this past summer I was at the park with my kids, and my son Charlie Brown came up to me and said, "Mom, what does F**KING mean?" After I picked up my jaw from the pavement, I asked him, "Where did you hear that?"
"Oh, it's written on the inside of that slide over there."
By the way, Charlie Brown had just finished FIRST grade. Oh, but he's a really good reader.
Goodie for us.
Now, we've told him it's a bad word and not to ever ever use it, but now he wants to know, WHAT DOES IT MEAN????
Uh... Uh... (stalling)...
My kids are unfortunately quite aware of these words. Not from us. But from their friends. Whose parents don't mind if they use that kind of language.
Oh, I am so sorry, Debbie! I remember when Kiddo was three he learned something that was VERY inappropriate behavior from a friend who had older siblings. I remember thinking (while sobbing my eyes out later) that his innocence was being chipped away. There's only so much we as mothers can do to protect them and then we have to trust that the Lord will continue His protection.
Kids are growing up so fast these days. It's scary.
AWww my ears are burning. I am so sorry. It happens so much earlier and I just want to wrap my kids in a bubble to keep them innocent.
Here is a great one. My much older sister came home and asked my mom that some question. She wigged!!!We were all sent to our rooms and no one was allowed to talk the rest of the night. When we finally did find out what she said it was made very clear to never let mom hear that word. I think it became my sisters favorite word after that. I also learned that I could never ask my mom hard questions cause she would wig. So the flip side to this is our reaction is very important to those small all trusting in us kidos.
Good luck, I think I would be stalling to explain that one too.
Wow. They start dropping the F-bomb earlier and earlier these days. Not a conversation I'm looking to have.
My oldest girl (who is 7 and in the 2nd grade) has a classmate who has been getting into lots of trouble at school lately... for swearing at the other kids. This boy was not like this last year... I don't know what happened over the summer.
oh I am so sorry. I have the double whammy of Eli learning it and not knowing...because i don't know the curse words over here.. oh man!
It doesn't really surprise me (but it still does) that 3rd graders know this word. My sister teaches 1st grade at an inner city school, and that's nothin' compared to some of the stuff she sees. I mean, if the redhead said that, I'd be livid, but its really sad what kids come into contact with that's not appropriate. Go get those boys Debbie and beat some good sense into them.
Awww! I'm sorry! When My Girl was in FIRST grade she came home from school and was upset. She told me she heard some kids saying the S word and the F word. I was shocked!! Then she says, "Yep, they kept saying Shut Up AND fart...it was awful Mom." :) I think she thought the F word was fart until about 6th grade!!
So sad....
But it reminds me of a funny memory. My friend's sweet daughters (at the time 5th & 3rd grades) attended the same, sweet, relatively "innocent" Christian school my son attended. The darling 3rd grader came home, saying "Mom, today we heard [so-and-so] yelling 'Son of a B**CH!'. I know this is a bad word, but gosh it rolls nicely off the tongue and is fun to say!"
:-) Cracked me up.
I keep thinking we have reached the age where there are so many conversations we're going to need to have with our kids. Where to start? I look at how big they're getting, and sometimes say to them, "Hold still a minute so I can squish you and keep you little a while longer!" *giggles* Bittersweet, I say.
My daughter is only 6 and she asked me what a$$ spelled. We were at a family party and the girls all went to one room and the older girls were spelling all the bad words they know. That's when I felt like backhanding young girls.
I wish we could keep them sweet and innocent forever but the world is sometimes an ugly place. My daughter was in second grade the first time her precious ears were tainted. The injustice of it all!
Oh no!
That's awful :(
I'm glad she's so sweet as to promise to never say it, but I'm sure that was traumatizing as parents :/
When my son was 8 he came home from a BD party and told me the boys had been saying the "F" word. . . . when I quizzed him closely, it turned out they were saying "fart". lol!
I remember one of my kindergarten classmates flipped the teacher off -and was immediately dragged from the room -so I knew there was something wrong with it, so the second I got home I showed my mom what he had done and asked "what does this mean?"
I think she almost had a heart attack!
so sad that kids have to learn things like that!
My brother said it at about 18 months... but just because he couldn't say Truck....
I'm sorry that happened... I remember when people would watch their language around kids... not any more. I remember standing in the cereal isle at the grocery store with The Ladies this guy was on his cell phone "Where are the f*ckin rice crispies. Why do we need f*cking rice crispies" I gave him the look of death.
ps - is it a bad thing that for the first few minutes after I pulled up your blog, all I could do was stare at the plaid on your couch?
The important part of this is 'that she came to you' and not some other child!
Sounds like great parenting to me!
Oh for pete's sake. 3rd grade? That's it. I'm putting my kids in a buggle.
Make that a bubble. I'm not sure how I would get them into a buggle.
Oh my God Debbie did she say the word? I would of feel on my face! Girl when I taught school I heard that word in Pre-k and almost feel on the floor. Thanks for sharing and she is to cute. Much Lvoe
Anissa
I love it when they are so innocent that they think the "s" word means "stupid". My kids even freak out if they hear "crap." Love that.
Heather
My child came off the bus the very first day of kindergarten and asked what one certain word meant. I was beyond sad.
It is scary what our children hear at school. Or on TV. I love though, how quickly they accept that it is bad and something you don't say. Mine too correct anyone who says stupid or dumb or several others like that.
My 3-year old somehow somewhere picked up the phrase, "F*cking stop" and decided to yell it (at the top of his lungs) to his big brother while we were at a family reunion.
I was so proud.
Huh. I guess you could say in our cultural climate that she is a late bloomer. Boys and walls. It doesn't matter how big the boy either. I went to MOPs convention last year at a swanky hotel. Since there were something like 5000 women there they converted all but one of the men's rooms into ladie's rooms. Yeah- even at swanky hotels. Yuck.
ugh! that makes me so mad! i still hate hearing that word, and i'm a "grown up"! lol!
Reminds me of the time my 2 girls were playing Barbies with a friend and she said "She's a lesbian"...I almost had a heart attack. SO then I had to explain to my two VERY young daughters what that meant. It sucks being a mom at those moments.
i'm so thankful that the "f" word is still "fart" in our house.
What a bummer! I know I was still really sheltered at that age, but I know lots of others aren't. In fact, I know some preschoolers with pretty rotten potty mouths. On the plus side, you did get the message across to her without making too much an issue of it, kudos!
It's so sad isn't it?!?! I teach at an elementary school and am amazed/saddened by the language the students use. I was afraid to say the word crap until I was in high school.
HI Debbie..
Whoa..say it aint so!!
But I'm glad you all were calm and just explained it to her in a simple but to the point way.. " I'm assuming you were "calm"?? lol I remember when my kiddos were younger and came home with those questions, at least we were not like our parents generation who kept telling us to ask the other. Mom what is??? I dunno go asked your Father. Geeze!! I'll be away at our retreat this weekend, soo I will check back on the tours when I get back.
Hugz Lorie
I remember being so cautious when asking my mom, "if I ask you what a bad word means, will I get in trouble for saying it?" I kept hearing the S-word at school. But God help me if I was going to look like some hayseed idiot and ask one of *them.* Thank heaven my mom just told me what it meant and reminded me to not use the word. So at least I know what the heck was being said at school! Sadly, I think I was in 2nd grade..... And now I have a whole new big batch of sympathy for my mom. I think I'll go e-mail her now....
It always seems to be the first word that gets somehow permanently scratched into the plastic playground equiptment--and then every kid learns it. Poor LRR. At least she has her parent's example and I guarantee if she's never heard it come out of y'all's mouth--it won't come out of hers! Still feeling the sting along with you though.
Oh great! My baby is in the 3rd grade {{shudder}}. Thats why I just want to keep them home away from the world... Oh I know I cant do that but darn this world. She is so sweet and inocent for now.... I waiting for the day she comes home and doesnt believe in Santa.... That will be a sad day for me. I have already lost the two oldest 16 and 18.... Maybe they still believe, smile
Aww, at least she knows it is a bad word, and maybe if she hears other kids say it at school, she'll spread the word on how bad it is.
I heard words like that at a very young age. I now have the mouth of a sailor. HOWEVER, I never curse infront of kids.
I'm glad she came to ask, though. You know, instead of just using the word herself before she knew what it meant.
Oh that is just sad! I dread the day. Hey...I am just getting around to spreading the love from ALL my comments on my spotlight day! Thanks so much! You truly are incredible...don't know HOW you do it??!! But thanks! Have a great weekend!
Debbie,
My Owenator(7) came home from school last week, and asked me what this means? And he stuck up his middle finger. I explained that it meant something really bad and not to do it, he can get in a lot of trouble for doing that. He said ok. Someone did it on the bus...darn those high schoolers they ride with. I was hoping to keep my kids sheltered for just a little while longer. Innocence is such a great thing, when their young.
Thanks for being willing to do my game. I'm new to this blogging thing, and don't do much like this, but it sounded fun, so I thought what the heck. Have a great weekend.
Hugs from Georgia,
Amy ;)
OH-MY-GOSH. I can't believe it- 3rd grade!
I remember hearing my first 'bad words' in the back of the bus- but it was the s word not the f word! sheesh.
*blush*
She probably got it from my boys...I'll talk to them...AGAIN!!!
Oh my, oh my! I am flustered just thinking about it.
It is so hard to protect them, teach them and still let them out of the house!
Good for her for asking and not just trying to use the word.
It's getting earlier and earlier. My oldest came home in the 5th grade and asked me what oral sex was. I literally fell to my knees. I waited for dad to get home and we had "the talk"....oh I'll never forget that!
OH MY GOSH!!! I'm not sure if Cowboy has heard it (he's in 4th) but he 'said' it the other day and had my friend in tears.
He was telling a joke and with his speech issues - still has a problem when he gets excited anunciating everything the way he should....so the joke has a line in it that says FORK AND KNIFE, FORK AND KNIFE. When I got back in the truck my friend said "Cowboy, why don't you tell your mom the joke you just told me...." I'm glad she's got a good sense of humor ;x
Last year in third grade, Carson came home and said, "Mom, I need you to tell me all the cuss words." Me: "Huh?" He said, "Well, people keep trying to get me to say them, and I don't want to, but I don't even know what they are." Me: "Well, there's &(&(*& and *@#$#@ and #$@#$2#." No, just kidding. I tried to find out what he had already heard, I spelled the words and explained what they mean, how people use them (or mis-use them), and why we don't say them. I am really proud of him that he has never repeated those words or shared them with his younger siblings. Thankfully, he hasn't learned the word LRR heard, because that would open a whole new can of worms, if you know what I mean.
I do have a humorous story, though, about bad words. When Carson was about 3, he came off a playground slide to report that a little boy said a bad word. The boy's mother overheard Carson and started yelling at her son. He wouldn't confess, so she started yelling at his sister. She wouldn't confess either, so the mom made them leave. When everything was quiet, I asked Carson to whisper the bad word to me.
Carson looked very worried, but then he whispered in my ear, "He called me bubble gum." That poor little boy is probably still in trouble!
It's funny, though, about bad words. I thought "belly button" and "pregnant" were bad words when I was 2, and I can remember saying "belly button" under my breath a lot when my new baby sister came home! I guess this kind of stuck, because I rarely referred to myself as pregnant when I was. I usually said I was "expecting."
Oh, Debbie, why do you make me talk so much? Are you cursing me under your breath now? Let's hope not, but I'll close now just so you're not tempted!
Oh yikes....'nuff said!
I'm tagging you. Don't worry, it's an easy one. And you have to do it, or I'll hunt you down and paint your house purple. ;)
http://www.journeytofamily.com/2008/10/more-random-things-tagged.html
I am so dreading those days.
Sadly, i was in 3rd grade too.
I think I turned out okay. ;P
I lived a highly sheltered life, but I was about that age when I heard/understood cuss words for the first time.
When my brother got on the bus in kindergarten a kid came up to him and said, "You're a n*gger!"
My brother said, "No I'm not!" (having no idea what it even meant!)
The boy said, "Yes, you are, because my dad said you were!"
My brother said, "I am not! I'm a Christian!"
:-)
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