"Oh shit!"

Apparently, my son's first words have gone from "Ma-ma" and "Da-da" to "oh shit!" (0.o)

I couldn't help but laugh when I first heard it but soon realized laughing only reinforces the behavior. So any laughter after that point had to be shielded. It just is so hard not to laugh, he's 14 months old, he can barely speak (minus a ton of baby babble) and yet he clearly says "oh shit!" Even crazier is that he knows exactly when to use it contextually. He drops something - "oh shit!" He trips or falls - "oh shit!" Sometimes it's just "shit shit shit!" lol! Sigh.

It's so hard as a parent to shield your child, not only from others mouths but your own. I cursed pretty often prior to becoming a mother. I've cut back a lot but definitely slip up here and there. After disciplining Elijah after the first dozen times he said it, I felt bad. Its not his fault. Babies/toddlers truly are sponges.

I heard ignoring it would help stop it but I was drawn to replacing the word with something that sounds similar but isn't a curse word, like "oh sugar." The idea is to repeat the new word/phrase every single time they say the one you don't want them to. Eventually, they will start repeating the new word they hear you say so often. We started "oh sugar" yesterday and will keep at it. Apparently, patience is key as it can take weeks to pick up the new word. Unsurprisingly, Elijah already is starting to pick up on the new phrase "oh sugar" after just a day. He said "oh sugar" once so far when he would usually say "oh shit." So we'll keep at it and hopefully "oh shit" will be soon forgotten.

Either way, it provided hours of smiles and laughter this weekend! Kids truly say the darnedest things!

Any parents go through something similar?