Swear Words

I bet you are wondering what on earth I have to say about swear words. As well you might. If you know me personally, you would know that I do not swear. Okay, so I do say 'crap.' But that's about as graphic as it gets. I grew up in a home that didn't use swear words, and was taught that there's always a much more descriptive, better word you could use to express your feelings than a swear word. I have sworn a couple of times in the past 18 months. Once at some pasta spaghetti that just would not stay in the collander. It insisted on spilling over into the sink while I was trying to rinse it. Not a big deal, really. Yeah, except when you have a newborn baby, are getting an average of 5 hours sleep in every 24, are studying full time, and are just a bit beyond anything rational. The spaghetti got the brunt of my anger, because it was safer than exploding at anything else and it just happened to be the 'straw that broke the camel's back' as the saying goes. And as I did not really feel any better for it, swearing has remained something I don't generally do. So why talk about swearing? Well, my son was this week. He's not quite 11 months old, so a little young to be heading down that route. I said to him, "Munchkin, please stop using my name as a swear word!" He had been standing at the gate to our conservatory, saying "Mum, mum, mum, mum, mum!" Or rather, whinning, "Mum, mum, mum, mum, mum!" Why is it that Daddy gets the "Dada!" said with ecstasy and delight each morning, and I get the whinging, whining, moaning, and complaining? The only time he says my name is when he wants something. Grrr. Motherhood is so over rated. Or is that under rated? The pay is appaling at any rate. So honestly, it sounded just a little bit too much like swearing to me. You know, that mumbling under your breath when things don't go right kind of swearing. I am looking forward to the day when Munchkin decides to use my name as a happy word, rather than a complaining one. In the meantime, I will endeavour to instil in him the fact that there are plenty of words in the English language that can be used to describe feelings of tiredness, grumpiness, impatience, boredom, or otherwise, so he really can use something other than "Mum!" Amy Sunday, 17th April, 2011