The OMG Bomb

[KingstonMom]

As I am sure all of us do, I edit my language and vocabulary due to the listening ears among us. Since having 3 kids of my own I cant rememeber I used any sort of curse word, not only around them, but anyone.

However... is "oh my God" considered a curse word? I'd like to think that I say "oh my gosh" but the two can be interchangeable at times!!

Long story short, I have a daycare boy who went home and said "oh my god mom, hear that loud train?". She says she was "Less than impressed". This mom is an overreactor and has almost had a termination letter just due to our clash of personality types/parenting styles etc. She wasnt saying that it came from here, nor did she accuse anyone of anything, she was just saying what he said. Now I have been extra observant and between my husband, myself, and at least 2 of our daycare kids, we all drop the OMG bomb at some point most days.

Is it so terrible and should be considered a 'curse word'?
TIA!

[sierra]

Hi Kingston Mom!
I don't consider it to be in the bad word circle but I know many people do find it offensive, so during day home hours "oh my gosh" bombs are the order of the day around here.

[Dreamalittledream]

It does raise an interesting debate for sure. In our home, it is not said. My 7 year old will, the rare time say it instead of 'Oh my Gosh' and he is corrected immediately. Now, if he ever let a swear word slip it would be an entirely more severe reaction than simply an immediate correction/reminder. Now, when he does the odd slip to OMG, would I write a note to his teacher...absolutely not. I definitely think Mom has overreacted here.

[sunnydays]

It's funny because I used to say this a lot and when my oldest was abotu 18 months he started saying it all the time...and I felt kind of emabrassed...so when I had the next child, I stopped saying it and made a huge effort to make sure he didn't say it...then, when he was 2, he went to a new daycare for a month and obviously that caregiver said it all the time because he started saying it all the time...LOL. I just thought it was funny actually because I had worked so hard to avoid it and in the end, it happened anyway. I don't find it offensive, but I know some people do, so I do avoid saying it in front of the dck's. But, it is tricky because there are words that I wouldn't have thought to be offensive that others do find offensive. I sometimes say "shoot" and I never thought of it as a bad word...until the other day my 3 year old dcg said it (learned it from me) and then immediately corrected herself "Oh, I shouldn't say that, that's a bad word"...which made me realize that her parents must have told her that! Then I felt bad! Would others think "shoot" is bad? Now I am paranoid about everything I say!

[Momof4]

My grandson told me last year that I should never say the S word. I looked at him in astonishment and he told me I said the word stupid and that's the S word. Oy! Yes, we have to be really careful with our language around little children, but come on, show me one parent who never says OMG once in a while!

[gcj]

If kids say it, I ask them what God means to them...who is God? Usually at that age, they don't know. I explain that if they don't know God, they needn't use his name. If they throw in your face that "you said it" ....(I try not to, but as you said sometimes we may not realize) I explain that "God" means something to me and sometimes things are appropriate for grown ups and not kids (within reason, of course!) There's nothing wrong with kids learning that!

[mom-in-alberta]

I ask my kids not to use "oh my God", use "gosh" or "goodness" instead. We also don't say "stupid" or "dumb". I have a 5 year old that we call the language police, because if we let anything slip out, she is ON IT. LoL
I know it doesn't seem like a big deal to most, but they will pick it up soon enough away from home. It just sounds wrong from a little 2 yr old, you know?

[ladyjbug]

This thread reminds me of a conversation one of my drop ins, who just happens to be quite a precocious and religious 4 year old.
DCB: Miss ****, Did you know that we are not allowed to say Oh my (whispers) *God*?
Me: Why yes I did!
DCB: But Miss ****, did you also know that we are not allowed to say Oh my (whispers) *Goodness*?
Me: Oh, I didn't know that! Well, what can we say then?
DCB: *Big dramatic pause* Oh my. That's it. Oh my.

So that's my guideline. LOL.

[mlle.coccinelle]

AHaha that's very cute Ladyjbug!

I try not to say Oh my gosh as much as I can.... But I guess that its better to say that than an actual ''curse word'' . I do think the mom over reacted on it though..

[daycaremom9]

I didn't realize "oh my gosh" was bad; now I'll be rethinking that! I've caught myself saying holy smokes, now I imagine I got that from my mother. A lot of the sayings that she used to say are inappropriate for children. Not swearing but sort of negative when dealing with kids.

[Skysue]

I find it offensive and truly don't like it when it is said. With that said none of us are perfect and we have all said something inappropriate from time to time, for heavens sakes we are human.

We say oh my gosh or oh my goodness and seriously what on earth is wrong with that?

Oh and my absolute favourite is ah man!

[bright sparks]

It really made me chuckle when my own kids came home from school off the bus one day a number of years ago and they told me other kids on the bus were saying the s word and the sh word, I cringed as my son was about to tell me what he heard. I turns out that the S word was stupid and the sh word was shut up...lolol phew....

I thought that Oh My God wasn't really a big deal until I heard it come out of the mouths of my children. There childhood innocence and their tiny voices made it seem so much harsher to have them say it. I find I try to reduce or avoid saying this altogether. That being said, coming from the UK where crap is a bad word, I have a hard time with how often that word is thrown around.Seems a little hippocriticle when people use that so fluently but complain about the use of OMG.

I took my 11 yr old to have xrays last week and we were given paper gowns that kept ripping and the assistant said that they were a bunch of crap. I immediatly said, excuse me what did you say and she just repeated her comment like it was no big deal. I was not happy about that but I do realize that over here in Canada it is not a big deal to say that. Another example when some irate woman decided to hurl abuse at me in Costco parking lot a couple of weeks ago said "...I dont give a shite..." and when I asked her to not use bad language in front of my daughter, she laughed at me and proceeded to tell me to grow up...and this woman was easily in her late 60's. I found that if she so easily could hurl abusive language at me it was just a reflection on her lack of education if that was her only way of communicating with me in an awkward parking lot situation that she caused because she was selfish and clearly lacking common sense.

What I'm trying to say is that I think it is a very personal opinion based on an individuals upbringing, religion and personal views. I think that any kind of disrespectful term used to upset someone or demoralize somebody is not acceptable. But I think OMG really isn't meant to conciously disrespect the Lord so people shouldn't take it as so. Although I do think that most people could do with thinking more before they open their mouths in order to show more respect for others and consider how their actions will impact others.

[little sunflower]

Although I am a Catholic I wouldn't consider myself overly religious. But I do understand why people don't like to use the phrase, "Oh my God" because to some it is taking the Lord's name in vain. I would think "oh my gosh" or "oh my goodness" should be fine though. Or just saying "OMG" like people will text I wouldn't have a problem with. Little people sure can repeat things fast though, my son was in the room when we were watching a adult drama that happened to mention the word "porn" once in a conversation and my little guy repeated the word twice right after hearing it which of course made me go cringe but I tried not to react too much as I do notice if you make too big a deal of it kids will want to say the word or phrase more. Thankfully he seemed to forget this word later so hopefully he has forgotten it.

[gcj]

:laugh: My kids always talk about the sh word, too on the bus! Shut up!

[playfelt]

While a lot of the words are not very nice we have to be very careful that we don't ban too many of them - yes stupid and shut up are on the banned list but boy that one sure works fine around when we having one of those screaming matches between kids. Gets their attention real quick so we can go on with what really matters. I am not one of those paranoid ones about what is said as much as I am about how or when it is said. Any word said to another person with the purpose of hurting their feelings is wrong so whether you call them stupid or red the result is the same. Unfortunately that lesson gets forgotten with the emphasis on banned words - child gets punished for saying a word not for belittling a friend.

[Sandbox Sally]

My own children are 13, 11 and 8, and I am really not all that hung up on cussing. If they are telling a story and they swear when they get excited, I don't do much beyond giving them the side-eye or gently reminding them not to say that in mixed company. Swears are just words. I do not tolerate "oh my god", as it is affixed specifically with a deity, and I am foursquare against mocking someone's spiritual beliefs.