Little Potty Mouth

My youngest is three.  He is the most angelic looking kid, with very light blonde hair and the biggest blue eyes.  He is such a loving little boy who gives the best cuddles and he knows how to work his baby blues to make himself look ever cuter, when he wants something.  This is usually accompanied with the elongated 'pleeeeaassse'.  I mean it's really hard to resist him at times.  Just think of the cat from Shrek looking up pleadingly. 

He's very typical of his age; testing boundaries, being adventurous and learning fast about the world around him. He's also very stubborn and can throw an epic tantrum when things don't go his way.  The little guy also has to contend with an extremely competitive bigger brother who likes nothing more than throwing his weight around and tormenting him.  They have the usual sibling rivalries , squabbles but they are the best of friends too.

Out of the blue, my angelic little boy has a potty mouth.  On several occasions this weekend, he dropped an f-bomb.  He doesn't just say it in a passing comment either,  nope he uses it during an angry moment with his brother and in the right context too.   The first time I heard it,  I did a double take thinking that I must have been hearing things but my eldest took pleasure in telling us that his brother had said the 'F Word'.  I was caught in that moment that most parents find themselves; trying to stifle the desire to laugh and staying absolutely serious when I told him off.  He just stared back at me with a look of defiance and almost delight in shocking us. 

Since having my kids,  I've always joked about finding the manual that tells us what to do in certain circumstances.  As a kid,  my parents would have skelped my backside for using profanities but I don't believe in raising my hand,  whilst at the same time I struggle with finding the right form of discipline, which works for the kids.  Neither of them are the same and they react very differently to things.  I guess this is a constant struggle for most parents who want to raise good kids.  The naughty step , taking toys away and putting them in their room for time out are usually my go-to options.

After the third or fourth instance of potty mouth,  I sat my three year old down and told him that Santa's elves had been to set up the Santa-Cam.  He looked at me confused at first then I showed him our alarm sensors.  I told him that Santa is watching everything he and his brother is doing.  He has been checking out the sensors ever since.  He's been told that he needs to be good because Santa knows when he is saying bad words and misbehaving. So far,  it's been working but I'm not sure for how long.