Dammit

My recent post on "Oh Sheet!" reminded me that I did once have a parental issue with a child cussing.  When C2 was 2 years and 3 months we were preparing for a trip to Lake Michigan.  Nona had come to visit and we were headed to the Lake for a full week of fun.  On the night before we left, Nona and I both overheard C2 murmur a word that was eerily close to the word Dammit, and he was using it while he was angry.  I found that very interesting, as I know that IIIIIIIII didn't use this word in front of him.  And I know that Brad SHOULDN'T have either.  Is that the word he said??? Maybe he said something else?!?  I thought that I would monitor him and see if that is indeed what he was saying.  It took several days, but when we got back home from vacation he said it again.  This time it was at the dinner table and it was when he was angry because we didn't give him something that he wanted - he used it in the right context and EVEN pounded his fist!!!  However, I was STILL in shock that this was the word he was saying, so I waited one more time.  Just a couple of days later he was building with blocks and his tower fell over.  He pounded his fist on the floor and out of anger shouted, "Dammit!".  This INDEED was the word he was saying.  He WAS guilty of cursing, and at such a young age...  He was the child that had to be evaluated for speech therapy because of a delay in language development.  And of the 27 words that he knew, Dammit was one of them!

I confronted him by saying, "Now C2... that is not a very nice word and we can't use that word anymore.  If you use that word you will have to go to Time Out."

He responded by saying, "No, No, No, Moma!  I HAVE to say Dammit!"

This was C2 at Lake Michigan.  

And this was also C2 at Lake Michigan.  He was being pulled in the wagon back to the house from the beach.  And it dumped.  He didn't even take a break from his CapriSun and just kept right on sucking.  Do you think he was thinking "Dammit"???