I have just got to share the latest with difficult child and his bad language:
difficult child occasionally swears while playing the X-Box on line. The other day, I overheard him saying a different word but we all would recognize the swear word he was trying to cover up. He told the person on line, "Oh, I have to say this in case Mom is listening." So, a few minutes later, I walk into the room and say, "What is it that I have been hearing you say?" "You actually heard me????? You can hear me from the other room??????" "Yes, and I don't like it." "But I am not using swear words. They sound like the swear words but they are not." "Well, I don't really care what WORDS you use. They MEAN the same and that is not acceptable. It is not the word that makes the swearing but the intent."
I do like the soap covered finger in the mouth. Wish I would have figured that tool out when Diva was young. Maybe for those of us hesitating with soap we can think outside the box with other things. My kids may not like peas so that may be an alternative? have a baby food jar of mushed up creamy peas to rub in their mouths? (I would also never go with the hot spicy stuff - just find something that tastes awful but doesn't hurt).
I am surprised that the one therapist said to let the language slide. Bad language seems to build the worst paths in kids. Once the language is gone, the respect is totally lost, and the bad habit creeps into every bit of life causing problems with friends, at school, at work, ect.