Has it ever happened to you that, being quietly with your children, they suddenly say a word that leaves you white as snow and without knowing what to do or say? The question we ask ourselves immediately is that "how is it possible for my child to say something like that?" Let's see what happens when the little ones say ugly words.
And it is that who was going to tell us that our son, who plays so quietly with his toys and enjoys the children's stories and the innocent adventures of his favorite animated character, can suddenly say swear words. Although we have to keep in mind that, like it or not, these types of words will end up being heard by our children, usually after two years.
But we should not be overly alarmed since at these ages they do not know what they are saying. Surely they will have heard it around and have seen the reaction of people to that word: generally receive special attention. And that is precisely what our children do when they are named: they try to get our attention.
I explain myself: surely if our son is asking for help to do something and we, for whatever reason, cannot attend to him at that time, he will use some kind of bad word to immediately address him and pay attention to him. Although, as I said, don't know what the word in question means.
We have to think that our children, at these ages, are in full development of language, and repeat and integrate into their vocabulary most of the words they hear in their daily lives (hence the importance of taking care of what is said or done in front of little ones).
The way in which our children learn new things is by observing their surroundings and imitation, so for them it is just another way of experimenting with the things they have learned in their "knowledge journeys."
We as parents must react in the best possible way to this new situation in which our son has surprised us with new words in his repertoire that are not appropriate. We will be the ones who will give meaning to that word according to how we react.
In the beginning, the most normal thing would be to get angry and tell our son that those things are not said because they are ugly; nothing is further from reality, because if we do not want this scene to be repeated several times throughout his childhood, it is advisable to don't react by going crazy.
On the other hand, it is not advisable to laugh to take away the matter, because then the child can understand that the reaction to those words is fun, and would repeat it again hoping to get the expected result: the laughter and fun of the person to the one that is told to him (and I doubt that it is what happens most of the times that somebody dedicates those words to another person, right?).
We could not give a magic formula to react to these situations, but if it is true that after two years, when it happens, it is best not to pay attention to the word words that our son has said, without any reaction (as with the face of poker). And it goes without saying that, as models we are for them, don't use them in front of them
Generally, specific interventions are not necessary where sophisticated behavior modification techniques are used, but it is true that if they persist we will have to establish limits and consequences.
We must think that if in our everyday language we normally use swear words or insults that do not have to be excessively mocking (silly or stupid), we cannot demand that our child use them or even insult us when Get mad at us.
As we get older, if we want we can explain what those words that sound so bad mean and why we can't use them. The education of our children depends on us, there is no one who doubts it, and the values we want them to have. And so, when they have children, they will also know what to do when the little ones say ugly words.
