&#$(!*&#))(*$(*&Z(*&

We try to have clean mouths, but we are not perfect. A swear word here or there never hurt anyone, we think. And then we hear the words tumbling out of the mouths of our babes. All of them. At the same time. Justifying the curse word that they chose to use. On Christmas Eve.

It all started with the Bourne movies. The actress in the movie plays a German and she swears in German. To keep from swearing in front of the children, my dear sweet husband started using her German swear word when he was frustrated. "Scheisse." Then, S. and F. both started using it. My dear husband repented, but the damage was done. Finally, he sat down and explained that one really shouldn't say "schiesse."

Fast forward a few months, frustrating months, with the occasional English swear word being shouted as boys blatantly disobeyed or ignored their parents, or injured each other. At dinner tonight, Christmas Eve, A. poured his milk out. F. looked at him and said, "Dammit." My eyes went wide and then even wider because he kept repeating it. I tried explaining that we really shouldn't say "dammit." S. jumped in with his own, "dammit." R. tried helping me (in between laughing while wiping up the spilled milk.) But the boys persisted.

Me: "It isn't a very nice word, F."
F: "But dammit is a good word. Dammit, dammit, dammit."
A: "Dammit, dammit, dammit."

For the sake of the world, I tried not laughing as all of my children swore with such jubilation on Christmas Eve, but I failed. I laughed. F. thought we were laughing at him, and started to cry. I hugged him and explained why we were laughing and why we really shouldn't say "dammit."

Dammit, it was a hilarious moment at the dinner table.