Dad Fined $2,000 for Cursing in Front of Kid

JeanneSager — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 16:01:00 GMT

Forget the cussing jar. What if every time you dropped an F-bomb in front of your kid you had to pay up to the tune of $2K?

I'm no sailor, but one LEGO in the bare foot later, and my bank account would be wiped.

A father in Pennsylvania is fighting a court-mandated "no cursing zone" put forth by the judge overseeing the custody of his nine-year-old. The judge issued a requirement that the man, "refrain from using any profanity when dealing with mother and mother's husband, and using any type of language around the children that's inappropriate."

On the whole, I'd agree. Divorces are rough enough without dad getting nasty with mom and her new hubby. And parents shouldn't, by and large, curse in front of their kids. It's uncouth.

But doesn't this sound kind of vague? Any inappropriate language, meaning, what? My parents didn't let us use the word "fart." Is that a finable offense? What about the parents who say don't say the word "stupid." Or what about "crap?"

The dad has since used some sort of four-letter word. The story in the Bucks County Courier doesn't say which one (could be crap!), but it earned dad a $2,000 fine. Apparently, the judge thinks he was being a sh---y father (oops, I went and said it).

The man is challenging his fine on the basis of free speech, and I'd tend to agree with him. Cursing At your kids on any sort of consistent basis isn't OK - that's abuse. But cursing in front of them. On occasion? It happens. And we're definitely NOT the only ones who do it. My daughter learned the word "bulls--t" from my mother, I'll have you know (yes, the same woman who wouldn't let me say "fart."). She heard "s--t" in the deli the other day, and "a--hole" in the lobby at the doctor's office.

Maybe His Honor would like to take this show on the road? He could follow my three-year-old and I around town and hand out fines.

Image: Sodahead

Babble Talk: Points For Honesty

Brett Singer — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 18:00:00 GMT

One of the first posts I wrote on Babble was about certain words that toddler's should never, ever say in polite company. One of them was the phrase "fork and spoon."

In case you've forgotten, here's why:

(Fork - r = Fok) + (In - n = n) + Spoon = Fokkin' Spoon

Many people weighed in with their own toddler-isms, such as the child who walked around asking everyone where his stick was – except that he replaced the "st" with "d". That must have been fun.

Over at 'Kids Say The Cutest Things', this kid, I think, wins the prize. Not only does he/she say a four-letter word, he/she seems to know that he/she is saying a four-letter word. Please forgive my language... well, it's not my language, it's theirs:

mommy dosen't like when i say fire truck because i can't talk very good so I usually say fire fuck

Hard to argue with that one, right?

Read more of the funny stuff that pops out of our kids' mouths, four-letter words, five-letter words, or 27-letter words right here. You can also submit your own short-people sayings.

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