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Parenting is full of trials and errors. We try out all kinds of ways of raising our kids, and we discover again and again that there isn't a set formula for what works and what doesn't with each child.
Sometimes, this realization materializes in cringe-worthy fails and hilarious moments with our children, which honestly make for some of the best memories for all.
One of the major decisions a parent has to make, either before the baby is born or very early in their life, is how the parent will verbally engage with their child.
Will they use baby talk or extensively simplify their content? Will they speak to their child in the same way they speak to everyone else, in hopes of boosting their brain development and vocabulary? Will they curse around them?
Often, this last question seems like a no-brainer, but it's not always as easy as saying, "No, we won't." Sometimes, in a heated situation or simply stubbing a toe, a parent is going to slip up in front of their child.
This is largely what happened to Reddit user "elwebbr23" who had an extremely tough day feeding his fussy toddler, who admittedly was having some stomach troubles.
But when this Redditer found themselves slipping up in front of their child after hours of frustration, their child had the most hilarious, share-worthy response.
You can read this parent's full slip-up story here:
"My daughter just turned 3, her communication skills are getting better by the day. So that day for some reason her tummy was giving her issues so she was being difficult about eating. It was a cycle of her saying she was hungry, then a little back and forth about what is going to be eaten, and finally her taking one bite and saying she was done. Not even saying there was a problem, literally 'cool this was good, I'm full for the next 3 minutes'."
"After applesauce, PB & J, and pasta being prepared for no reason, I got the third 'all done!' 30 seconds after dropping the plate with her, and I got a little frustrated."
"Real quick side note, I try to not give my daughter too much of the 'baby talk' as in I don't like having to dumb things down if it's unnecessary, especially because I'm bilingual so there's a whole other layer of development that I gotta be mindful of when I freely swap languages. So I try to keep it fairly down to earth if I can, to help her in the long run, unless we are playing or some other situation where I would be in character."
"ANYWAY... So I'm a little frustrated and I'm in casual mode so after the third failed meal I slip up and I go 'oh come on man, are you f**king with me?' And without missing a beat she goes 'no. I'm not f**king with you.' and it just kinda stopped me in my tracks lol it was supposed more of a comment I mumbled to myself, but she fed it right back to me and I kinda wanted to laugh but also kinda felt embarrassed for it, while also having to let her know that I'd prefer if she didn't say that for reasons."
"Yeah I know, it's not all that crazy, but I thought it was kinda noteworthy one way or another and couldn't think of a better sub to share it on."
Even though this Redditor didn't view this as the biggest moment in parenting history, fellow Reddit users immediately started posting their own stories and cringe-worthy fails that involved their adorably foul-mouthed children.
"My son was two and a half, maybe three and was eating something with a spoon. Anyway whatever was on his spoon fell off onto the table, and staring at the fallen food he uttered "s**t" without missing a beat. I kept quiet and didn't make a fuss of it at that point."
"He got reminded a little while later about not using the word. Fast forward five years and even though we occasionally drop a cuss word in front of the kids, we haven't had to correct them terribly often that it's a word he shouldn't be using."
"Every now and then we quiz him and his siblings on if they should swear and they both give emphatic "NOOO" answers." - smoike
"When my daughter was 2 she was starting to string sentences together and really up her language game so we decided to stop doing the baby talk thing and try and reduce profanity in the house."
"We'd still let it slip when we got hurt or something bad happened etc. One day our kelpie stepped on her foot and she belted out the most in-context and expressive 'F**king dog! Get off!'. We were both quite shocked but laughed our heads off because that was absolutely spot-on contextually."
"As they come up, we've explained that some words are not appropriate for her to use especially outside the home. One of my favourite memories of her toddler years." - cantgetnosleep
"My 5 yr old was asking her dad one day to open her curtains. He was busy and told her she could do it herself or wait till he was done. She goes 'I can't do it myself, I'll pull the f**king curtain rod down!' Then just stopped horrified she slipped and swore in front of us."
"I was in the bedroom trying to put the baby to bed, laughing so hard I cried, and I heard my husband tell her she shouldn't say that, then the moment she went back down to her room I heard him start cracking up." - kiwi1018
Some also shared in the Reddit user's mixed emotions, expressing how funny the actual moment feels, while also feeling concern and embarrassment, and wondering what the best way is to talk to their child about swearing.
"I completely understand how torn you felt."
"One very trying day my then-4-year-old son came up and wrapped his arms around my neck and said 'Mom, I'm sorry I was such an a$$hole today.'"
"The f**k do you even say to that?" - quedra
"A friend of my gf's family had her grandson tell her that he f**king loves her. She didn't know how to respond so she called his father, and dad asked for the context of swear word. When he found out he said that he was ok with it. Now grandma and grandson have a little inside joke where he'll whisper to her I f**king love you." - zakaarbovus
Trial and error, failure and success, parenting quickly becomes full of hilarious and candid stories of raising and observing our children who will one day grow to be adults.
Honestly, the best thing to do is take a picture, write down the memory in a log, or even share with a friend or a group of Redditors.
Knowing you're not the only one going through these growing pains really helps the process, and you may even pick up a few hilarious stories from someone else along the way.