WWYD? Neighbor Girl Saying OMG

[randomkid]

We don't have any neighbors with kids DD's age. There is a little girl across the street who just turned 7yo and she is an only. We moved in here when she was 2yo. Despite the age difference, neighbor girl (NG) and DD play together well. I noticed DD saying "Oh my g-d" on several occasions and have corrected her. I really didn't know where it was coming from until I heard NG say it one day. I started noticing that she says it ALL. THE. TIME.

Yesterday, we went to NG's B-day party. There were a lot of 7 and 8yo girls there and they were all saying it :47: Nobody even reacted to this! In my childhood, this phrase was the same as swearing. I don't want DD thinking this is OK.

How would you handle this? Just correct NG when she is here or speak to her parents? Obviously, it's not a problem for them (even though they are church goers) as they don't correct her.

[egoldber]

I think this is just one of many examples where you will just have to tell your DD that what is OK in someone else's family is not OK in yours, whether its words, dessert every night, whatever. You're the parent and you get to make that call.

[s7714]

My older DD picked OMG up at preschool. We just told her to say "oh my gosh" instead and she does.

[caleymama]

I think this is just one of many examples where you will just have to tell your DD that what is OK in someone else's family is not OK in yours, whether its words, dessert every night, whatever. You're the parent and you get to make that call.

:yeahthat:

My DDs have said it occasionally and we just remind them to say "oh my goodness" or "oh my gosh" or "wow." It's not really an issue for me, though. It does bother DH, so I am happy to remind them to please use another phrase. I have never heard it considered the same as swearing, and hear it quite a bit from various people. Since it is not something you want your DD saying (and you have every right/reason to be uncomfortable with it!), I agree with Beth's advice.

[Rainbows&Roses]

Really if that is the worst she gets from the older kids, consider yourself fortunate.

[LBW]

I agree with the pps. Correct your own daughter, and explain what is acceptable in your family. As to correcting NG, I wouldn't do it. That's up to her parents.

As my oldest gets older, I've noticed more behaviors in his group of friends that are not "ok" in my house. When things really bug me I explain to DS why they're not ok for our family. I'm not out to parent the world, so I'm content when DS follows our rules. :)

[randomkid]

I agree with the pps. Correct your own daughter, and explain what is acceptable in your family. As to correcting NG, I wouldn't do it. That's up to her parents.

I would agree with this, but often, NG is left here to play while her Mom goes to the store (that's another post). I feel when she is in my house, I correct her on other things like running in the house, not picking DD up constantly (DD hates this) and just general behavior. I don't let her run amuck in my house, KWIM? I kind of feel like when she is left in my care, in my house, if I don't want her to say something in front of DD, it should be OK to correct her.

Do I just feel this way because I grew up in the 60s/70s in a neighborhood that was almost like a commune? :ROTFLMAO: Not really, but there were many kids my age and we were always at each other's homes. All the parents corrected and "parented" all the kids.

I'm sure NG's parents would not be offended if I corrected her because I don't want her to say this in front of DD. However, I don't know that I want to have a talk with them as that would come across more as me telling them what to do. Does that make sense?

[egoldber]

I think it would be OK the next time she is over to say something like, "Oh, we don't use that expression in this house. I'd appreciate you not saying it here."

The expression doesn't bother me personally, but I know it does bother many other people, so I have never developed the habit of saying it IRL (although oddly enough I do use it online....) and so Sarah has never picked it up either.

[randomkid]

:yeahthat:

My DDs have said it occasionally and we just remind them to say "oh my goodness" or "oh my gosh" or "wow." It's not really an issue for me, though. It does bother DH, so I am happy to remind them to please use another phrase. I have never heard it considered the same as swearing, and hear it quite a bit from various people. Since it is not something you want your DD saying (and you have every right/reason to be uncomfortable with it!), I agree with Beth's advice.

I have corrected her and she is doing much better with it, even with still hearing NG say it.

I grew up with the commandment of "Thou shall not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain". This was very powerful when I was growing up, so to compare it to swearing may not be accurate, but it's something we just don't do. I swear at times, but I really try NOT to use His name in vain. I guess to me, it's almost worse than swearing.

I know I can't protect DD from things like this forever, but it seems at 7yo, a little girl should just not be using this phrase and a 3yo should not be hearing it used that way.

I do hear it a lot, but I don't like it. I also don't like "it sucks", but that is far less offensive to me than OMG. Funny thing is, NG's parents hate it when she says "sucks", but don't correct her on this - :shrug:

[ILoveLucy]

In your own home, I think it is fine to correct her. Just a "Hon, would you please say 'Oh my gosh' instead of OMG when you are here, please?" is fine, or bring it up with her mom and ask that NG please not say that in your home. I don't think you should have to put up with something in your own home that you don't approve of. Especially with NG being several years older than your daughter, I think it is perfectly understandable that some words that might be okay for NG might not be okay for your daughter, and I can't imagine a mom being offended by that if you are polite about it.

I certainly wouldn't allow someone to use vulgar or questionable language in my house no matter what their age. I don't see why OMG is any different if you don't like it. The fact that others might find it acceptable doesn't matter.

[tarnator]

Hmm,

funny one.
I probably say OMG all the time myself - and I have forgotten that it used to be considered swearing! I hate to think that I could be your neighbor, if I had older kids. :)

I think it is fair to tell your kid that you don't like it, and even let the little girl know that you don't want to hear it in your house. Explain why, cuz it will probably be confusing to her too.

[LBW]

I'm sure NG's parents would not be offended if I corrected her because I don't want her to say this in front of DD. However, I don't know that I want to have a talk with them as that would come across more as me telling them what to do. Does that make sense?

Hmmm. If she's around that much without her mom or dad (meaning they are not there to correct her), then I do feel like it's okay to tell her what is/isn't okay in your house. Personally, I would phrase it in such a way that she understands it is YOUR rule. (She's obviously hearing it from someone she knows, you know?) You could give her parents a heads up that you are doing that. Let them know that you are telling them so that they'll be prepared in case she asks them questions about it. Hopefully that will keep them from being offended in any way.

Good luck!

[Melaine]

OMG is very offensive to me as a Christian. Taking the Lord's name in vain is worse then other "cuss" words (to me) and is blantantly disrespectful to my religion and my God. In fact, it is the third of the 10 Commandments: Exodus 20:7: "You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name." I will gently correct a child who says this in my home, at least saying, "please don't say that around us." If an adult says it repeatedly around my children, I would probably pull them aside and just ask them to avoid it since I don't want my children to repeat it; I don't think that's asking too much.

[squimp]

I would kindly correct her if she was at my house. We had to correct the neighbor kids (8 yo) from saying "kick them in the nuts" around DD at our house last night. We just told them that we do not talk like that in our house. We also don't play shooting and killing at our house.

[pinkmomagain]

My 2 yo says this because we say it....we don't have a problem with it. I agree with pp: explain to dc that it is not acceptable in your house, even though it may be acceptable in others. We all have our very own standards...and that's OK.

[AngelaS]

I agree with Melanie and if someone were saying it in my house, I would politely ask them not to use God's name that way as it's offensive.

[SnuggleBuggles]

You can explain that you prefer her not to use that phrase in your home. Some people have different feelings on how to use G-d and in her life, family and practice they may have different values and expectations. Just remind dd that while it is ok for her friend to use that phrase it is not an ok thing for her. That's all you can really do, imo. Set your sights on your family's behavior.

Sing OMG is not offensive to me I am trying to think about how I would feel if a playmate of ds's dropped the "F" bomb around us. I would say that that word wasn't ok to use in our house.

Beth