*#@$% Wordly Wise

I'm not talking about the fantastic vocabulary curriculum found here, but rather making wise word choices. Hubby and I avoid the 'potty' words. We have been known to let one slip out occasionally-but those incidents are quickly documented by three wide-eyed shocked faces and therefore do not happen often. I vehemently despise the OM* craze that seems to have taken over texting, Facebook, TV and pretty much the world. I am constantly lecturing my children about just how offensive this seemingly innocent phrase is. (I have been know to deliver this lecture to other children in my care as well!) I steer them away from all derivatives because it is just tooooooooooo easy for "oh my gosh" to become something else. We try to say, "snickerdoodle" or "fiddle-dee-dee", instead. (LOL, JK) (LMAO-okay that was really in poor taste!)

I am saying all of that to say this: Now we have a whole 'nother issue. Judgement. Superiority. Parenting problems are just a laugh a minute, aren't they? Sometimes I think I should have just been a dog trainer. I tell you the truth, I don't know what I am doing. I lack the SKILZ to cope most days. But I digress. I do not want my children using bad language. I also want them to wisely choose friends that do not use bad language either. HOWEVER, I do not want my children to write off teens who use bad language. WOW. Especially knowing full well that lots of teens use a poor vocabulary as a morsel of rebellion. I know I sure did. I felt so old and worldly having a potty mouth. I felt powerful using words that often shocked and offended and did not give a thought to what someone might think of me using them. Of course, this was a direct result of not having anyone 'looking out for me' either. Some of my friends did the same and we WERE good kids. (It was only after turning 16 that I begin to slide down the very slippery slope to self destructive behavior.) We even threw in the occasional foreign cuss word and for kicks-the infamous sign language wordy dirties. It is, in many ways, a rite of passage. Just like pimples and hormones, unfortunate vocabulary will rear its ugly head. So what is a poor momma to do? I don't want my kids to dismiss some lovely friendships on the basis of pottymouthitis. I also don't want them to pick up this dreadful disease that develops into a habit that could haunt us all for many years.

What has been your most effective tool?