Cussin!

[perth]

So I picked Jamey up from the babysitter last night, and she mentioned to me that he said "fuck". Yeah, I probably taught him the word somewhere along the line. I try to watch my language around him, but it slips once in a while.

I'm conflicted though. While I guess I don't want him to use curse words, the only reason I have a problem with it is because of the social stigma attached to these words. I think its stupid that 'shit' is a big, bad, naughty word, but 'poopies' which means basically the same damn thing is great for general use. 'Fuck', which is probably the swiss-army knife of the English language, is also the most reviled. Why exactly is that?

Will I continue to discourage him from using those words? Yes. Will I be more careful about what I say around him from now on? Yes. Is it okay to compromise your beliefs about something relatively harmless in the name of social acceptance? I dont know. I certainly don't want my son teaching those words to other small children whose parents would be upset by it, but I also want to raise him realising that if someone has a problem with any particular word he uses, its their problem, not his.

On the other hand. Bizarrely enough, I do have a problem with racial slurs and I intend to make sure he never uses them, at least not in the derogatory fashion. So am I sending a mixed message? If I want to instill in him the idea that racial slurs are bad, must I teach him that basic curse words are bad? Is it all or nothing? Is there room for compromise? Am I worrying too much about this?

Opinions?