Child Is Cursing.

Hi, I feel so bad for you. I would be mortified if that word came out of my childs mouth. You are right that he probably won't forget it, but you can teach him that it is not acceptable to say it. My kids occasionally will say "damit" or "oh my god", which unfornately they get from me and I just remind them that it is not accecptable for them to say and give them an alternative to use. We are Christians, so we say that it is disrespectful to say. That even Mommy and Daddy make the mistake sometimes too, but that we should be reminded too. In the case of the F word, you can leave God out of if you wanted to and it is still disrespectful to say in public. Just as the others have suggested, be very matter of fact about it. It is not a matter of making you mad or being bad, it is just plain and simply unacceptable for a little kid to say. I would also address the relatives who think it is funny. That is also unaccepatable that they are teaching YOUR child things that they know would upset you. Good luck, you can redirect him, it will just take time.

I understand how upsetting this can be. He knows that, if he says this word, he can get a reaction out of mommy. Tell him that this word is a "bad" word and he should not say it. If he knows how to use the word in fusteration, then he is smart enough to know what you are talking about. like I said, he knows that he can get a reaction from you, so try not to let him see you get fusterated or upset.
Good luck

Hi J.,
Try telling him that there are some words that are grown up words and that eventhough he may hear grownups say them, he is not allowed to. This worked with my son. You may have to remind him a few time and like someone else said try to keep your reaction very calm, but after a few times it should work. I hope this helps some. good luck and let us know.
D.

Hi J.,

When my nephew started saying "bad words" my family thought it was funny and laughed. Well, he wouldn't stop b/c he wanted that attention. When my son started saying "bad words" that he heard we told him very calmly that it was not acceptable and that he should never say those words even if he hears adults say them. My husband and I made sure to watch what we would say in front of him but you can't control other adults and you can't keep your child away from other adults. I must have told my father a thousand times to watch what he said but he'd slip all the time. As long as we didn't laugh or make a huge deal about it he stopped. Any attention (even if it's yelling at him or freaking out) is attention. Try to make it a quick "remember what we talked about" or "you are not to say those words" and drop it. Ignoring it (to an extent) is really the best way we've found to handle this. If you give negative attention to it, it will continue unfortunately.