Generation…??? Should our Children’s Upbringing be Judged?

I took my son with me today to meet up with a friend. He is 7 years old. A couple of things happened that probably should have made me cringe. But they didn’t. And for that I am proud. Let me explain.

The Situation

We were sat on the couch talking and my 7 year old used words like kaka and poop. He even went as far at to say his daddy is sometimes an “A-Hole”. I didn’t correct my son in this setting – for 2 reason: 1, we have dealt with this situation and it had context: 2, I’m not going to reprimand him in front of someone who is a stranger to him (I get the impression he was showing off to impress my friend).

Thankfully my friend didn’t seem to mind my son’s behaviour.

Driving Home

I thought to myself “gosh, I hope my friend doesn’t think my son is rude”

But here is the thing…

When I grew up, we got told off for using adult words, speaking up in adult settings and I genuinely felt uncomfortable about all the “rules”. I often broke the rules, in hind sight its because I didn’t truely understand them. Growing into adulthood I realised this has made me a little awkward in social settings. Almost having that ‘need to fit in’ feeling.

I don’t want my children to feel like that. I understand my role as a parent is to guide and support. Not to imprint and press into a certain mould that society feels my child should be. But to encourage their strengths and personality to give them the best chance to thrive.

This means that I support my childrens’ use of language, just as I use language, to express myself. I understand this can come across as rude in some settings, and I can not express how much I don’t mean to offend people. Children are just small human beings learning about their place in this very big, and sometimes scary world. I am just trying to help mine to express themselves harmlessly.

I’ll try to wrap up now shall I?

I don’t want my children labeled as Generation X or Y or Z or what ever letter will be dubbed their generation. That isn’t a fair label. There are good and bad people in every single generation – lets not write them off because they occasionally express themselves differently or say something inappropriate. We’ve all done this at some stage.

Lets look for the best in every one, no matter age. And if it can not be found, them maybe they just need some support or friendship to bring it out….

Smile! Everything is always better with a smile!