@#%&*!!!

One of the hardest things about being a parents is learning not to swear in front of the kids. It's especially hard for me, because swearing is a workplace hazard. I am surrounded by curse words all the time, swearing colleagues, and some of the files I work on - well a good swear word is sometimes all that's needed to describe the file.
I learned the hard way to give up the "f" word at home. When Devlin was two and a half, he was toilet trained. Then he regressed. He began to poop in his underwear. Still peed in the toilet, but the poop was always in his underwear. Putting him back into pull-ups wasn't going to help, because then he'd just pee in those. So the decision was made to keep him in underwear, and deal with the consequences. At some point, he'd revert back to pooping in the toilet. But it was difficult, and there were times the "f" word would slip out. One afternoon, Devlin told me he pooped in his underwear. As I pulled down his pants and carefully tried to pull down his underwear without dropping the poop, I said, "Oh Devlin. You know..." He interrupted me with "I know, f---."
Well, that stopped me in my tracks. I knew then and there that I had to stop swearing within earshot of the kids. I tried, and for the most I succeeded. Devlin for the most part, dropped that word from his expanding vocabulary. It came out once after that, in front of parents. Yet another shining example of my parenting skills.
So, I started using substitute swear words at home. Like freak. And unfortunately, I've started using the Lord's name in vain. (Probably a bad habit, because that still slips out, at church, no less.) The substitute words had a placebo effect. My frustrations got voiced. I felt better afterwards.
Until last night. I'm putting Aisling to sleep, and I heard Ceilidh fiddling around with the music box. She keeps cranking it up, and is unable to turn it off. Then she yells, "Daddy! Can you turn off this freaking song?"
Daddy: What???
Ceilidh: I can't turn off the freaking song. It's freaking noisy.

Great. I've just created another monster. Perhaps I should start a curse word jar - put in $1 for every swear word.

And why is it the kids mimic me? They never use the words they hear Daddy say when he's driving!