Childhood Cussing

 WHAT MOTHER TAUGHT US ABOUT CUSSING

I had a mother who wouldn’t even let us say, “ain’t” or “shut up” much less allow us to cuss. I don’t think any of the five of us ever said a cuss word in front of our parents as children or as adults. There were no threats and no soap. Honoring our parents and upholding the family name was motivation enough for us to do right and to live the best life we could.

The only cuss words I knew as a child of 8 were the “d” word and the “h” word. Though I was familiar with the “SOB” phrase I had it backwards. I thought this was ok and that “son of a gun” was cussing because it rhymes. My sisters eventually heard me say the “SOB” phrase and instructed me in no uncertain terms to never say that again.

I never even heard of the “f” word until we moved to California from Albuquerque, New Mexico when I was ten. This was in 1956. I doubt seriously if my mother ever heard of the “f” word in her mostly homebound life which consisted of caring for her children and keeping the house immaculate. I can’t even imagine my mother’s ears being stained by something that filthy. It breaks my heart when I see the “f” word posted on Face book, and “mf” seems like a vicious assault on a person’s mother.

There was nothing ever said in my boyhood home about any “unconditional love” license to do anything you please and still be loved. It never crossed my mind that my parents would love me if I betrayed them. Integrity, dignity, honesty, self-sufficiency, and basically the Golden Rule were taught by example.