Today at dinner we were playing "find words with the FFF sound"

[conuly]

Theoretically, if we do stuff like this enough we'll improve Evangeline's phonemic awareness.

Eva said phone.
I said fish.
Ana said foam.

Eva said (after thought and some prompting) firetruck.
I said frog.
Ana said fire.

Evangeline needed some help, so I suggested "something you shouldn't do... fff... f..." and I pretended like I was about to punch her, angling for "fight" of course.

Evangeline: Fuck?

This is where I died.

Evangeline: No, no - punch!

Ana: No, fuck starts with an f. I think she meant fight. Yeah, fight!

Me: *still dead*

Once I recovered, I reminded Evangeline that she's not supposed to say fuck, and so that therefore I would never try to direct her to that word. Ana asked why, so I explained that we don't say "fuck" because it's an impolite way of talking about having sex.

Ana: Wait - it is? I thought it was just something you said when you were angry! Like, today when you sent me for the paper towels, I said "I don't CARE about the fucking paper towels!"

Ana was also reminded she's not supposed to use that word, of course. *headdesk*

And yes, I explained that since sex deals with private parts, words used to describe it are often considered impolite because it shouldn't come up in public anyway. But it's also, Ana, a word you say when you're angry... mostly because you're not supposed to be saying it anyway. This explanation, surprisingly, seems to have made perfect sense to her.

Comments

[trialia]

ROFL :D

I love these girls.

[rantinan.livejournal.com]

Oh dearey me. You have summed up the entire purpose of swearing in one easy sentence!

[conuly]

Pretty much. We NEED words we aren't supposed to say, and subjects we aren't supposed to mention, just so we can say them when we're mad.

[ncp.livejournal.com]

I think you handled that perfectly. Except for the whole "dying" part. But I would probably have done that too.

[conuly]

Laughter. It's a killer.

[ncp.livejournal.com]

See, I would have died from trying NOT to laugh.

[conuly]

What's the point in that? Just let it out, let it out!

If I eat another piece of pie
I'll die.
If I can't have another piece of pie
I'll die.
Since it's decided I must die
I guess I'll have that piece of pie.

Laughter wouldn't rhyme, but it's the same principle.

[velasco.livejournal.com]

That is so adorable. And good methodology; not just NO DON'T SAY THAT IT'S NAUGHTY JUST DON'T, but giving an actual reason, is probably a very good lesson.
(my mom was for the first way. It didn't work :p)

[conuly]

"It's considered impolite" actually works very well as a real reason, and it's the one I first gave Ana when she first came out with the word "fuck". If she wants more information, though, I'm happy to give it to her.

Today at dinner we were playing

[rhicat.livejournal.com]

*dies laughing*

That is just classic comedy!

Re: Today at dinner we were playing

[conuly]

I know! I just put my head down on the table and laughed and laughed. And Evangeline was going "Connie, it's all right, don't worry!" and I couldn't answer because I was laughing so hard!

Re: Today at dinner we were playing

[sayga.livejournal.com]

Hahaah, those kids are so cute!