Big F#ck!

I'm no expert when it comes to the various developmental phases of children.  I once Googled 'how many words should 16 month old know?' when Emma was little and the results had me horrified and writing down every word she uttered. I might have even made up a few to reach the quota.

Ben, as far as I'm told, speaks well for his age and for a boy.  He seems to pick up words quickly and he usually needs to hear a word or phrase once and he has it.  He says things like 'hamba kahle', 'Emma's naughty', 'stoppit mom', 'Ben / dad / Emma farted', 'sis Ben / dad / Emma', 'dangerous', ' for adults', 'swim', 'bum's sore', 'need cream', 'mosquito bites', etc.

Sadly there is one word he's battling with and no matter how we try, we're not winning. Ben doesn't say 'truck'. He says 'f#ck'. He often says it when he hears a truck pass by our house. We get it.  We know he's meaning 'truck'. He uses adjectives, like 'big f#ck', 'fast f#ck', 'noisy f#ck' and someone taught him 'f#ck off '.

It's all well and good at home. We ignore it and reiterate that it's T.R.U.C.K. We don't make a big fuss or react. However, out at shops, in front of other parents and strangers, it's a little more difficult to explain away the obscenities pouring out the mouth of an otherwise very cute little guy.

You can see the disbelieving nod of 'hmm, right, he means 'truck'' and the judgemental gawp of people who 'if I had kids, they'd never get away with that!'

Let's just say this.
Parking at Sandton City - R10
Grocery shopping - R1500
Random outbursts of 'big F#CK' by 22 month old toddler - priceless