[purelegance]

Izabell has learned "ohh goddd!" from dh's little sister. she's 6. obviously MIL & i have different ideas of what is appropriate for children to do/say. little-sister-in-law (? lol) runs around screaming "ohhh goddd! ohhh goddd!!" in kind of an "ohh mannn" kind of ton, only she says God, not man. i hate it. i don't think it's appropriate to run around screaming, or saying "God" much less both at the same time!

anyway, here's the tricky part -- how do i unteach DD to say this? with most things we don't approve of, we nip it in the bud. but she's still young, and i don't think she understands why i'm telling her "no! we do not say that!" also, how do i handle it when we're at my MIL's?

[Samual]

Jamie has sworn before, normally even now with Mikey if any of the children say a new word we make a bit of a fuss about it, then they keep saying it to get our attention. When Jamie swore it was just a few days after his first birthday, I was about to tell him off but Frank told me not to, so then we just ignored it and kept talking about different things. Anyway, Jamie repeated it a few times until he realised he couldn't get our attention. He has never said it again, at least if he has, my family haven't told us.

[ruthann8]

I would tell her we should say "ohh mann" instead and see if you can get her to say that instead. Then in the future I would ignore all the "ohh godd" and praise her and get excited for all the "ohh mann" It will take a while but she will eventually stop, hopefully! How does you dh feel about it? Have your dh ask your mil to ask your sil not say it while you are over there.

[Magic_Mikki]

Alex learned, Ohh Sh** from somewhere, and was saying that for a couple of days. At first I would gasp and make a big deal out of it and try to get her to say Oh Man or Oh Boy instead, but that only made it worse! So we just started ignoring it and she eventually stopped.

I don't think you should ignore it at your MIL's house though. Not because you're trying to correct her language, but perhaps so you could show the in-laws that you don't approve of that language and would rather not have your child saying it. Whenever Alex does or says something at my in-laws that they approve of and I don't, I correct Alex, even if she is saying it to Grandma or Grandpa. For example, Alex has a habit of screaming, "I WANT MIIILLLKK!!" and Grandma (my MIL) just bends over backwards, waiting on Alex's demands hand and foot. At home, I would just totally ignore that behavior so Alex will understand that asking for it that way does not get her anywhere. But at In-law's house I will say something like, "No Alex. No milk when you ask for it that way. Can you ask nicely?" At first my mother in law would give it to her anyway (anything to have a two year old like you!!??) and I would take it away until she would ask nicely for it. So that's my big long story to tell you that its ok to defy what your in-laws say/want/do to raise your child the way you want to. This is just an easy, non-confrontational way for me to do it! Good luck! Dealing with the in-laws is sooo tricky!

[purelegance]

dh agrees with me, but i think it's only because i disagree with it so much lol. it's been going on for almost a month, at first i ignored it but she says it more now & randomly so i don't think ignoring is going to get it to work.

dh says he hasn't noticed sil saying it, so i wonder if she just does it when her big brother & mom are away. i'll have to really pay attention next time we go over. if that's the case, it's going to be a little harder to bring it up to MIL. not sure if i should just go ahead and correct sil then or what. guess i could get catty and wait until izabell does it in front of MIL then throw in a little comment. (kidding, NOT the way to go)

[Magic_Mikki]

Man, little kids' language is so hard to control! Totally not related, but yesterday Alex and I met my mom at work for lunch. We were eating in the cafeteria, and she works at the MN Supreme Court so there were a bunch of "hot shots" and judges eating and whatnot, and Alex screams, at the top of her lungs while running around the cafeteria, I HAVE POOPY MOM!!!! MOM!! I HAVE POOOOOOPY!!!! I was morified!!! Everyone stared at us while I chased her around, and finally gave up!

Anyway, I just remembered that story because I was just thinking about Izz saying, Ohhhh Gooood! in church! Not the most appropriate time. She's just praising the Lord, right??

[Samual]

You cannot and should never attempt to parent someone else's child.

[purelegance]

Originally Posted by Samual

You cannot and should never attempt to parent someone else's child.

i agree samual, however if it's affecting my child i'm not going to ignore it either. it's not like this is the neighbor's kid, it's my husband's little sister.

[Samual]

Originally Posted by purelegance

i agree samual, however if it's affecting my child i'm not going to ignore it either. it's not like this is the neighbor's kid, it's my husband's little sister.

Then don't take her round when she is at home, go in the day when she is at school.

[ruthann8]

Originally Posted by Samual

You cannot and should never attempt to parent someone else's child.

___________________________

I used to think that way! But if it threatens my child’s safety, like at the pool or the park, I step in immediately. Monday I had to pry a two year old off of Ellamae’s foot at the pool and I never did find out who she was with!!!! Another one pushed her down (she went completely under the water) and I immediately told her "DON'T PUSH" and refrained her pushing again until her mom came to discipline her. I was not happy; too many parents strap on a floaty and then go sunbathe.

In a public place or in my home, I would also have no problem with asking a child to not say a bad word in front of my child. In someone elses home we would ask the parent and if nothing is done about it we would leave.

If a behavior directly affects my child in a public place or in my home, I will always give the parents a chance to first discipline their child but if they do not, or they aren’t present, I will talk to the child. I DO NOT want my child to grow up thinking certain behaviors are ok, b/c they are not.