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Reflections of the Mindful — A publication designed for the writer to reflect, the reader to be inspired, the creatives to find their muses.

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KIDS CUSSING AND CURSING THANKS TO PROFANE PARENTS

The Family Curse and Genetics of Profanity

How my kids have inherited my foul language

5 min readFeb 4, 2025

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A small child looking very angry.
From the mouths of babes. Image by author using Grok.

“SONOFABITCH.”

I looked at my child.

She was staring into our snack cabinet and holding the doors open, only a few feet from me. I was in the middle of grabbing a beer out of the fridge when, from behind the open door of my Maytag, I heard the exclamation.

“SONOFABITCH.”

“Um,” I said as I closed the fridge door, bending my neck toward her, “What?”

“We’re out of Oreos,” she said, looking at me with a deadpan expression.

“Sonofabitch,” I said.

I love Oreos.

Potty-mouth time

My kids swear.

I shouldn’t be surprised. I live in New England where pretty much every other word here is “frick” or “friggin,” which are watered-down versions of the other “F” word.

The first words a baby hears upon exiting its mother’s womb in a New England hospital are, “HOLY **** IT’S A F***ING [insert gender here].” And that was from the doctor.

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Contemplate
Contemplate

Published in Contemplate

Reflections of the Mindful — A publication designed for the writer to reflect, the reader to be inspired, the creatives to find their muses.

Rodney Lacroix
Rodney Lacroix

Written by Rodney Lacroix

Rodney Lacroix is a humorist, and author of several books, including “The Vasectomy Diaries” and “Romantic as Hell.” He has 4 kids and is super tired, you guys.

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