I had one of those moments last Sunday, where as a mom, I was left questioning every parenting ability in my entire body. My daughter, my sweet, good-natured, first born who is now nine repeated a phrase during kid’s church, I’m almost too embarrassed to even write about. In response to some younger kids, being too loud, she yells at them. “Jesus Christ, would you just be quiet?”
Obviously, there was a moment of silence that followed. The classroom of eager children, prepared to learn a bible lesson, all dropped their mouths in a moment of hushed horror. A little seven-year-old girl kindly tells my daughter, “That’s a really bad word.” My daughter bless her heart, promptly apologizes and suffers the remainder of church with a terrible case of guilt.
We get into the car after church and I ask both my daughters. “How was kids church? Did you learn anything?” They both proceed to tell me how much fun they had and what lesson they learned. Then my seven-year-old who loves to tattle, gives me a sweet little smile and says, “Sister said a bad word.”
For a moment my mind goes blank and after a few minutes of prompting, my daughter finally admits to me what she said. Now, I’ve had many moments as a parent, where I’ve been angry, embarrassed and downright confused by my children but this one, to curse in church, to use Jesus’s name in vain, in church, really takes the cake!
The car ride home, I’m angry, I’m lecturing and I’m asking her the age old question, “Where did you hear that from?” That really is a stupid thing to ask because I already know the answer. “Well, Duh! She heard it from you or from Dad.” Meanwhile my seven-year-old is proudly proclaiming that she never says anything bad in church.
We get home, we march into the house to find my husband sitting on the couch, watching TV and otherwise enjoying his Sunday. He takes it seriously, gives her a lecture and then promptly moves on while I’m still seething and wondering where I went wrong in the parenting department.
It’s taken me about a week to push past that mortification and to realize that we all make mistakes, children especially. We have outbursts, flip-outs, moments of anger that often times require a swear word or two. I’m still a good parent, my daughter is as human as I am and life will go on. Love, forgiveness and understanding are all cornerstones of being a decent human being. Realizing that my daughter is not perfect, allowing her to grow and learn from those mistakes is what it takes to be a good parent.
Tonight, as I sit here, writing down this story in an attempt to show the crazy-reality of raising children, my husband knocks over his glass of water and cries out, “Jesus Christ!” As I’m giving him my narrow-eyed glare and realizing at that moment, just who my daughter heard that phrase from, without missing a beat, he looks up and says, “Jesus Christ, our Lord Almighty, Amen!”
I love my crazy family.
It happens to the best of us, at the worst of times. My then two year old dropped the f bomb in front of my mother in law, oh the mortification. Luckily she misunderstood what she had said. 😂
Oh my! Out of the mouth of babes! A reminder that we all are human! There is nothing more cuter and horrifying than your child swearing! Thanks for sharing your story. I love it!