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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to be a little smug at the fact neither of my DC know what to call a cigarett

183 replies

Gigantaur · 26/07/2010 20:23

they know what a cigarette is they just don't know what one is actually called.

the closest was DD who called it a "flag"

DS is 9.10 and DD 5.10

they also call all alcohol beer and have been known to pull a face at people who say they are going to the pub.

DD has also gone up to a man smoking and told him he was going to die because he smokes.

I did tell her that was rude and she wasn't to do it, but i did smile inside.

OP posts:
ivykaty44 · 26/07/2010 22:40

It woill not make any difference when they try fag and booze - just like you didnt knwo what a omputer was - oyu picked it up quickly enough

scottishmummy · 26/07/2010 22:40

is your son called Malthus,BeerTrickPotter. what a clever wee boy

BeerTricksPotter · 26/07/2010 22:44

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Original poster
Gigantaur · 26/07/2010 22:48

well it would seem the consensus is that IABU and that i have somehow failed in my parenting.

I will bid your all farewell as i go to bed. i hope to dream of ways in which i can be a better parent.

might take them on an educational visit to the local brothel tomorrow.

OP posts:
scottishmummy · 26/07/2010 22:49

yes it was a wanky thread

BeerTricksPotter · 26/07/2010 22:51

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

RealityKicksArse · 26/07/2010 22:52

This reply has been deleted

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scottishmummy · 26/07/2010 22:52

esp wee malthus when he sees the underclass

ivykaty44 · 26/07/2010 22:59

It is the being smug that isn't good in a parent

BeerTricksPotter · 26/07/2010 22:59

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runnybottom · 26/07/2010 23:03

Have to agree with SM, very wanky OP. Nobody likes Smug McSmuggy, especially with a degree in smugness from Smugton Poly.

CakeandRoses · 26/07/2010 23:04

Joining this rather late and have only skim-read. Your DCs sound very much like I was as a child - I was the Saffy to my AbFab parents.

And 'flag' is adorable

Sanesometimes1 · 26/07/2010 23:12

sorry gigantaur i also think that you are encouraging your chldren to be rude and smug reminds me of the sketch show that catherine tate done a while back - 2 kids who were terrified of lower classes lol x - keep up the "good" work sure your children will be very popular when they get to secondry school !

fanjoforthemammaries7850 · 27/07/2010 07:06

What a load of nasty sniping OTT posts to a poster who has always struck me as clearly chilled out and down to earth.

milliemoosmum · 27/07/2010 08:45

If my 2 year old wants to know what a cigarette is called I will tell her (me and DH are non-smokers so she doesn't come across them often). I will also tell her that they can make you poorly and it isn't a good idea to smoke them. I don't think she is more likely to smoke because she knows the word for cigarette. Surely if they are being educated about the dangers of smoking in school then they will use the word cigarette?
There are a lot of not so nice things in the world but we can't protect our kids from them by limiting their vocabulary. So IMO YABU - I would have told them the correct name and explained why it's bad.

huffythethreadslayer · 27/07/2010 08:57

My nieces were both like this about fags and beer when they were younger. Now they're in their 20's and they smoke and drink like troopers. It's a bit early for smuggery if you ask me.

My dd doesn't like fags or beer now, but then she's 9. If she did, I'd be very, very worried and pssibly, social services would too

ReasonableDoubt · 27/07/2010 09:02

I used to cry myself to sleep at night because my gran smoked and I thought she was going to die. I would hide her cigarettes and beg her not to smoke (and she only had the odd one in the evenings - she wasn't a chain smoker by any means).

In primary school, I wrote an anti-smoking song (inspired by Grange Hill's anti-heroin song, Just Say No ) and performed it in assembly. I also designed an anti-smoking poster that won a local newspaper competition. God, i was insufferable, looking back, although my heart was in the right place.

I tried my first fag at 14 out of morbid curiosity (how can people possibly like smoking?) and hated it. but I did it again a few times at parties and for most of my adult life I have smoked 20 a day. I gave up a few years ago, happily, but honestly - most children hate smoking. It means very little in the long run. Sorry to piss on your parade, but that's the truth.

StuckInTheMiddleWithYou · 27/07/2010 09:11

I'm with Bonsoir above.

You are celebrating your childrens lack of vocabulary.

fanjoforthemammaries7850 · 27/07/2010 09:25

has everyone missed that her son is autistic,parents of kids with ASD are the last who would celebrate a lack of language. Some very insensitive replies IMO.

Buddjela · 27/07/2010 09:41

Yes it's good that they don't know what a cigarette is because it means they haven't been exposed to it (can't say that about mine)

Mine also call all booze 'beer', but then again they are 4 and 6, and if it does come up that they all something like wine 'beer' I'll correct them because I don't see the point in them knowing the wrong name for anything. I can only assuming that seeing you know they call all alcohol beer that at some point they have referred to a certain type of alcohol incorrectly.

What struck me most from your post were two thing, the first was that I was surprised at you DS age that they he was still being so rude to strangers (in the sense that he pulls a face at people who are going to the pub) At 5 I'd accept (almost expect) it but not in an almost 10 year old.

The other thing was that your almost 10 year old will soon be entering the big bad world of secondary school where cute things like mispronouncing words in such a childish manner 'flag' instead of 'fag' (which I have to point out means he does know a word of cigarette - it's just he doesn't know the proper name and he mispronounce the the slag word for it)

Either you as the parent needs to wise him up or let his school buddies do so. Because either way he's going to be wised up (unless you home school). I know which option I'd prefer.

TrillianAstra · 27/07/2010 09:42

Fanjo you can't say 'people with x wouldn't do y' when you've just seen someone with x do y. Gigi has a son with autism, and she was being pleased that he didn't know the word for a cigarette.

It's good that they aren't growing up thinking that smoking is normal or good, but a little weird that they don't know the word (especially if lots of their family smoke).

Buddjela · 27/07/2010 09:45

Sorry FanjoForTheMammaries where as it mentioned her DS is autistic with ASD?

It might have thrown a different light on the thread had she mentioned this in the OP. As I (and I assume others too) don't keep a little MN notebook about all the posters on the thread) (and I skipped the middle three pages [hmm}

southeastastra · 27/07/2010 09:47

instead they are growing up know the words 'methadrone, cocaine and miaow miaow'

kids being uneducated about alcohol, cigarettes and drunks isn't something to boast about

TrillianAstra · 27/07/2010 09:50

By Gigantaur Mon 26-Jul-10 21:11:07
DS can't read (he is autistic)

But she is being pleased that he doesn't know what to call a cigarette, so Fanjo is wrong anyway in generalising that people with autistic children wouldn't be pleased at them not knowing a word.

fanjoforthemammaries7850 · 27/07/2010 09:53

TrillianAstra - it was others who were generalising. She was pleased he did not know a word for something harmful (and I think she was being lighthearted) quite different in her "delighting in his lack of vocabulary" as someone said.