So, I swear too much. WAY too much. How much, you ask? I teach high school…and actually had a student tell me that she thought I swore more since I got pregnant. She said that to me about a year ago.
I think that was the first time I ever became aware of my swearing.
In becoming more aware of my swearing, I also became more aware of other people’s swearing. People in Murrieta, California don’t swear much. Or, maybe they do but they just don’t swear around me.
The second time I became aware of my swearing was at the end of 2010 when I was on the phone with Fiona. Her twin boys are almost exactly one year older than Mairead. She mentioned how she’s being careful about what she says around them because they’re so aware of language – they’re really starting to understand and communicate.
THEY’RE ONLY A YEAR OLDER THEN MAIREAD!
If children live what they learn and learn what they live, then I need to be careful with everything I say and do around Miss M. This not only has to do with my word choice, but with tone and inflection and delivery. If I want her to be kind, I need to use kind words in kind ways. If I want her to have grace, I need to use gracious words in gracious ways. And so on…
I do not need nor do I want to have a toddler that walks around cursing.
The tipping point which lead to the creation of the swear jar came Tuesday, January 4, 2011. Jon was in RI for business. My mother was visiting from RI. There was one item on the to do list for the day – take out the Christmas tree. My mother and I had spent Monday doing the easy stuff – taking down and packing up the ornaments and lights – and Tuesday was the day we needed to move the dying tree out of the living room and onto the front curb.
Did I mention that the tree was dying? Know what happens to dying evergreen trees? Know what happens to them when you have them in your house for a month? And you live on the cusp of a desert?
Well, the short answer is this: you swear a lot. Taking the tree out of the stand; moving it from the living room to the front walk; dragging it down the front walk to the curb; lifting it from the curb into the green recycling bin (which, apparently, I wasn’t supposed to do). All the while it was molting dry brownish green leaves.
So, after I got the tree into the bin, I came in the house and decided I was going to stop swearing. Maybe because I had just gotten it all out of my system.
I went to the supermarket on Thursday, January 06, 2011 and had them give me $20 in quarters. I loaded them into a jar to make good on the last 6 days – I think $10 alone goes to the tree debacle. The jar I decided to use is one that Kelly made for me for Christmas. She took a large glass jar and etched a giant L and a heart on it. Isn’t it pretty?
I will let you know how I’m doing from time to time…if you’ll do something for me: if I’m in your presence and I swear, please remind me to pay a quarter to the jar.
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