Can You Believe My Son Said THAT?

LOVING this post from Erica of We 3 Crabs. I’ve definitely caught myself doing the same thing with my son, and came to a similar conclusion. While my kiddo doesn’t specifically use the same word, he definitely has his ways of grabbing my attention with naughty behavior (usually by picking on his sister) and I have to step in with patience. Thanks for the great post Erica!

What is the one word that your child says to get your attention?

My son is three. Three. The lovely age of testing limits and learning how life works. Little crab is very busy trying to establish that he is boss. I try very hard not to get upset, not to let him see me sweat and never let him smell fear.
But there is one word that gets my attention every time. Stupid.

If we are having a bad day he will say the word stupid attached to everything. He will sit in the stupid chair, at the stupid table, use his stupid spoon to eat his stupid cereal in a stupid bowl.

I remember the first time I heard him say stupid. I cringed. Then I asked him if he knew what that word means. Of course he said yes, but when I asked him to tell me what it means he couldn’t. So, we had the conversation about how stupid is not a nice word. It is not something we use to describe people or things. He has been asked numerous times not to say that word. He has been told to “just stop saying the word stupid” because both my husband and I get tired of hearing it.

Why does he do this? Because he is three. Three is a difficult age. He is learning that even though he wants desperately to be the boss, he is not. He is on the cusp of learning cause and effect. It’s hard to always remember that preschoolers are learning everything for the first time. Unless it is explained to them, they really don’t know.

The next time your kids say the attention word, stop and ask yourself, “Did I explain why this is inappropriate?” Maybe, just maybe, they need to understand things a little bit better. Raising a child is difficult, it rocks you to your core, but I know that he will know right from wrong and be able to tell you why it is wrong. Not just know it is wrong because that is what he was told. We take the time to explain every thing. I take the time to make sure he understands why.

Have you ever found yourself reprimanding your child for something he or she might not have realized was wrong? How do you deal with these situations? Share your tips and experiences in the comments!

Check out this page for more posts in the Confessions of an Imperfect Mother series for even MORE encouragement on a variety of parenting topics, if you’d like to submit your own confession, click here!

I am a mother of one, “Little Crab” who is three years old. My family lives in Juneau, Alaska. My husband is an Alaskan Fisherman. I blog over at We Three Cabs, where I tell stories of our life in Alaska, my husbands commercial fishing business and life with a feisty three year old. You can fine me on facebook and Pinterest too.