Going out with an expletive.

New Year's Eve. 8PM. Scott working at the Arts Center for First Night concerts. Bedtime for the boys. Supervising PJs and tooth brushing. Pick up a piece of paper from the floor of their room. Piece of paper has a particular four-letter-word written on it.

THE four letter word.

Several times.

In full sentences.

Not with real context or understanding of the verb that it is.

But with appropriatlely inappropriate ill-content.

Call eldest (calmly, I think) downstairs for a chat. Eldest reads paper to me. No guilt or shame or worry in his voice. He has no idea what he's written.

I inquire about said word. Eldest gladly owns up to seeing it on an Angry Birds video he found on the iPad.

"It repeated it over and over again in big, red letters."

"I'm not mad at you, but you need to know that that word is probably one of the worst ones you can say. It will get you in trouble. At home. At school. On the bus. At a friend's house... it will ALWAYS get you in trouble."

Then I was out of ideas. Go into the meaning? (HECK, NO!) Reiterate the "dangers" of the word? (And make it even more appealing/taboo? No, thanks.)

So I apologized for not doing a better job of keeping track of what he was finding on the internet.

It is 100% a glaring, idiotic, basic parenting mistake.

Stupid stupid lazy lazy bad bad Mom.


We broke Parents' Internet Rule #1 and let them use the iPad out of our eye shot and hearing.

Wasn't going to make any resolutions for 2012 but now I have one:

Don't Stupid & Parent.