LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON: TODDLER PICKS UP DAD'S BAD LANGUAGE
DEAR ABBY: My husband, "Leon," and I have a 16-year marriage and two young children. My problem is Leon repeatedly says bad words. He uses the "F" word all the time. I don't curse, and I am always begging him to clean up his language in front of the kids. When he is around strangers, he hardly ever curses. I beg him to have respect for the kids and watch his mouth, but he gets mad at me and it gets worse. Our daughter is in the fourth grade and our son is 2 years old. To my dismay, our little boy has started repeating the bad words he hears his dad use. How can I get through to him that he has an obligation to me and the children to set a better example?
-- SICK OF THE SWEARING IN LOS ANGELES
DEAR SICK OF THE SWEARING:
Why a mature parent would do such a disservice to his children is beyond me. By example, he is leading them to believe that X-rated language is normal and acceptable. Years ago, a reader named Monty Insko of Cardiff By The Sea, Calif., said that he broke his brother of the habit of swearing by sending him the following: (Please show it to your spouse.)
10 REASONS FOR SWEARING
1. It pleases Mother so much.
2. It's a fine mark of manliness.
3. It proves that I have self-control.
4. It indicates how clearly my mind operates.
5. It makes my conversation so pleasing to everybody.
6. It leaves no doubt in anyone's mind as to my good breeding.
7. It impresses people that I have more than an ordinary education.
8. It's an unmistakable sign of culture and refinement.
9. It makes me desirable personally among women and children in respectable society.
10. It's my way of honoring God, who said, "Thou shall not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain."