Constance Hall has made a name for herself in the parent blogging world for her refreshingly honest Facebook posts that tackle the emotions, challenges and rewards that come with raising children today.
In one of her recent posts, the Australian mom and author tackled a topic that many parents can relate to: swearing in front of your kids.
“I swear, no shit right,” Hall wrote, adding that she swears in front of her kids sometimes, but justifies it to herself by noting that she only swears for emphasis and doesn’t direct it toward anyone.
“You’ll never catch me calling someone a name or screaming ‘fuck off,‘” she explained. “It’s the ‘for fuck sakes’ when you you’ve gotten everyone in the car and are pulling out of the drive way when you smell a baby decided now was the perfect time to drop a shit. Or the ‘holy shits!’ at the pain that an innocent babies [sic] soft little lips can shoot through your body when latching onto your nipple.”
Hall has four children, ages 8 and under. She said her children instinctively never swore and saw it as something only grown-ups do ― “adult words and they rarely repeated them despite the odd hilarious moment in the supermarket.”
However, her 5-year-old son Arlo has recently started spewing a few curse words, and his friends are also fans of swearing.
“Does it bother me? Not much, meanness would bother me more,” Hall wrote. “I certainly don’t encourage it, have pulled him up on it and he appears to have stopped.”
Hall said she’s realized her son is at a time in his life when his friends influence him more than his parents do. “That’s socializing. And it’s beautiful,” she wrote. The mom added that parents have the power to teach their kids “how to recognize qualities that we respect” by pointing out when their friends do kind and positive things.
“So while it’s important to say ‘don’t swear it’s not cool’ it’s equally important to teach your kids to strive to find friends with similar moral codes to your family,” she concluded. “Because our household might be a sweary one, but it’s a bloody kind one and it’s full to the brim with love.”
Hall’s post received over 28,000 likes and was shared nearly 1,600 times. In the comments section, parents shared their own swearing habits and embarrassing stories.
Clearly the struggle is real.
