Foul language = foul moo

India,

I completely agree with you that people who constantly use foul language, especially in public or "for emphasis" in conversations, are just trashy.

Your post made me think of a recent television program about parenting (can't remember the name). The show featured a group of mothers who discussed and gave advice to other mothers in the group about two issues: (1) what to do when children swear, and (2) what to do when your child won't go to sleep at bedtime.

ALL of the mothers on the show agreed that it is "cute" and "funny" when their children use swear words (Go Mavs, Kick a**!; Oh sh*t!, for example). They discussed how hard it is not to laugh when it happens. It was clear that the kids had learned the swear words from the parents or from television programs that their parents watched. SINCE WHEN ARE SWEAR WORDS CUTE AND FUNNY??? Swear words are called "foul language" for a reason--they are ugly. The fact that the mothers all thought it was sooo cyute when their toadlers used the F-word was appalling! They weren't ashamed at all for having taught these words to their children.

I was about to change the channel when the second issue was addressed. One mother complained that her pre-school age son was difficult at bedtime and would not go to sleep unless she stayed in the room with him, brought him a glass of water, etc. The show featured video tape of this mother and her son. The son's bedroom had a crib and A TELEVISION in it. The tv was ON, too, because the son would cry if it was turned off. WHAT A STUPID MOO! If the tv were blaring in my bedroom, I wouldn't be able to sleep, either! Bedrooms are supposed to be dark and quiet. The video tape also showed an older boy from the same family (fortunately, this boy seemed to have common sense, so maybe he was adopted) who explained that the younger brother did not want to go to bed (what toddler does?) and would manipulate the mother by asking for a glass of water, crying, wanting to watch tv, etc. This boy was maybe 10 years old and he clearly recognized the problem and the solution: remove the tv from the bedroom, put the child in his crib, and leave the room. Ignore requests for tv and a glass of water. The boy will get bored or tired and go to sleep. At that point, I changed channels. I couldn't stand the stupidity of these women.

I can imagine what this moo is going to be like when she comes back to class tonight. This single moo will probably feel "well enough" to continue her trash-talk despite mooing about being sick last night. I am hoping that she and some of these young jerks, who never had any parental discipline, don't come back. They are not going to make it when we are actually taking calls and a caller is screaming in our ear over something.

The TV thing reminded me when I was a teen and went to my mom's friend's house with her for a ski trip. Mom's co-worker was a single moo to a nasty two-year-old. At midnight, we all wanted to go to bed. Because we were guests, we had to sit in the living room with Moo while she begged her tiny tot to be "good & go to bed". When the moo finally scooped up her brat and took her to her crib, we were all treated to ear-blasting screams for an hour. This woman had a live-in who married her. I cannot imagine what this man saw in this woman!