Moma Said the "S" Word....and Got Tattled On

We have words we do not say in this house. We just don't want the boys to swear. I've heard that swearing is a lazy man's talk...you need to be able to come with better strong descriptive words.

And there is some slang we let go. Heck, they're boys. Let 'em have slang, I say!

But the "s" words....we don't ever say those.

Except the other morning when I got really mad at the dogs and I said "the s word" at them as I shoved them out the door.

The boys eyes were wide in horror.

But they never said a word.

That evening as the boys were wrestling in the living room, their loud shrieks turned to complete silence and then "Don't tell! Don't tell! Don't tell!" by S3.

S2 told.

S3 had said "The S Word".

Ug.

I took S3 in my arms and gave him a hug. "Sometimes we just make mistakes and we feel so awful for it, like I know you feel now. I said "The S Word" today too...."

"You did?" Apparently, he was the only one who had not heard me say this as I seen the complete shock register on his face.

I shook my head sadly. "I did. And I felt so awful about it. I don't ever want to say that again. Will you forgive me?"

He hugged me. "Yup!"

Suddenly I was being hugged by all the boys and they were all telling me they forgave me.

It really was a beautiful moment.

We had a chat about how awful we feel and we should remember how awful we feel at this moment to help us not say bad words again.

Then I went back to making dinner and they went back to playing until Daddy arrived home.

When Daddy arrived home, the little tattle tails ran full force for their Daddy.

"Guess what? Guess what? Guess what? Moma said a bad word today!" S3 grinned triumphantly.

Where was that beautiful moment we had all shared just recently?

"She did?" he chuckled. "What did she say?"

"The S word," S2 gravely informed him.

Husband's eyes twinkled as he tried to get my attention. "You really said that?"

All the boys stared at me, waiting to admit my awful word swearing.

I nodded. "I did."

"I can't believe you did that!" he declared. He wrapped me in a big bear hug. He was so happy with my saying "the S word" I wondered if he secretly wished I did swear. "What 'S' word did she say?"

S4 shook his head vehmintely. "I don't want to even say."

"S and then H," S2 let him know.

"Moma!" he got on to me, all stern like with a big grin on his face. Then he whispered, "You really said that in front of the boys?"

"I did," I admitted in a quiet whisper. "I was mad at the dogs and told them to shut up when I put them outside."

Husband then nearly fell to the ground laughing but caught himself and said gravely, "Yes, that IS a bad word. I hope you learned your lesson, Moma."

I grinned. And then sent the little tattlers out to set the table.