It's All About the Loopholes.

For some reason, Captain Awesome is more fascinated with off-limits vocab words than his siblings ever were. 

It began the second week of the school year.  Every day he would come home and tell me about one of his classmates who had 'said a bad word' and didn't get caught!  It wasn't always the same kid, but it seemed to be a group of three or four.

Captain Awesome eventually wriggled his way into this little clique and has been testing the waters to see how far he can go.  

Is it okay if I just say "the s-word"?  I didn't really say the word, so that's okay, right?

What if I spell it?  Can I do that?  Can I spell it with stars, like 's*it'?

If I say it and don't get caught, it doesn't count, right?

How about if I said part of  the word, and my friend said the rest?  Neither of us said a bad word, so it doesn't count, right?

My answer was always the same.  It's about intent.  If you say part and your friend says the other part, your intent was to say the word and it is just as wrong as if you had each said it.  If you write it with stars, the intent is there and you are guilty.

It didn't sink in.  They thought they were invincible because no one ever got caught.  If it was wrong, they would get in trouble and since no one got in trouble, it couldn't be wrong!

So, they got caught.  He said "Shhhhhhh......" and his friend completed the word.  They lost recess and had to write a letter to their parents about how it was wrong and won't happen again.  I hoped that, combined with ten days away from the clique for fall break, would put an end to it.

Wrong.  He's still fascinated.  

I know this because last night when I put away his laundry I found a notepad in his drawer where he was keeping track of who said the most bad words in the house during fall break.  The Wildcard and I each had two tally marks on our page.  

The Hubster, well, he had a bad week........