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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To call my toddler a git?

59 replies

Sandsnake · 11/02/2017 18:48

Lighthearted but I'm genuinely curious. PIL are staying and 15mo DS needed his nappy changed. DH took him upstairs, MIL followed to help and I said 'good luck! DS can be a bit of a git about having his nappy changed at the moment'. She was genuinely shocked, it was like I'd referred to him as a really bad swear word (she later referred to it as me calling him the 'g word'). This wasn't in front of DS as he was already upstairs.

I've just never seen 'git' as a particularly bad word. Is it? I genuinely want to know if I need to reign in my casual git calling... MIL is lovely but from quite a different background to me so maybe that's it.

OP posts:
user1472334322 · 11/02/2017 20:06

I'm looking after my friend's dcs right now and they are being little gits and not going to sleep! I wouldn't say it to them or their parents though, I'm just sitting in their room on mn and thinking it! Grin

GoesDownLikeACupOfColdSick · 11/02/2017 20:07

There's a book called "toddlers are assholes". That's her Mother's Day present sorted Grin

NarkyMcDinkyChops · 11/02/2017 20:09

She'd fecking die if she heard some of the words used about (and occasionally to) children in my house!

Rainingchocolate · 11/02/2017 20:40

Are you northern Op? It seems to be an area thing as to its connotation.

user1485102013 · 11/02/2017 20:42

I once asked dds nursery teacher whether dd had been a little bugger (because the day before she had been).

She was horrified and could see by her face that we both had different definitions of little bugger.

AYankinSpanx · 11/02/2017 20:44

It depends on the relationship you have with the person you're speaking with I suppose. I wouldn't call my children names - even jokingly - to someone who I wasn't really close with or whose sense of humour I wasn't sure about.

With DH or one of my sisters for example, I wouldn't think twice as long as the kids couldn't hear me!

Original poster
Sandsnake · 11/02/2017 22:02

No raisin I'm actually southern and MIL is northern! Glad to hear the MN consensus is largely in favour of our children being gits Wink

OP posts:
originalbiglymavis · 11/02/2017 22:15

Mums family was from NE, dad (whi called us buggerlugs) from Glasgow.

Evilstepmum01 · 11/02/2017 22:24

shitehawk! Superb!

'wee bawbag' is our what our DS is called under our breath! Of course he heard it and repeated it to my dad! he laughed so hard tho!

oh well!

glenthebattleostrich · 11/02/2017 22:31

I call kids various foodstuffs then substitute words in my head. For example -

DD you are being a sausage, in my head it's DD you're being a shit.

Well aren't you being a biscuit = you're being a shit.

Little lamb chop = little shit

Most people think I'm being cute or twee, mostly I'm trying not to call DD a shit!!

( Disclaimer - I adore dd, she is awesome, funny, clever and brilliant, my favourite person in the world. She also didn't sleep for 5.5 years, still isn't a great sleeper and is stubborn, very opinionated and never wrong so I'm being rather restrained at times)

glenthebattleostrich · 11/02/2017 22:32

Not heard buggerlugs for ages. My granda used to call me that :)

AYankinSpanx · 11/02/2017 22:38

Yep, I use little sausage for little shit now I come to think about it.

angeldelightedme · 11/02/2017 22:40

'git' is short for illigitimate . You are accusing your child of being a bastard

Rugbyplayersarehot · 11/02/2017 22:41

Fuck me I call my dd a proper cow to her face. In my defence she's 17 and I am factually correct. Grin

Behind s toddlers back op
Sounds fine to me

Rugbyplayersarehot · 11/02/2017 22:42

angel seriously Hmm

NotInMyBackYard1 · 11/02/2017 22:45

to all those calling their kids buggers - you know this means anal rape yes?

Crunchyside · 11/02/2017 22:50

NotInMyBackYard1 Just because that is the origin of the word, that doesn't mean it is literally what it means in every context...

If I say "I'm knackered" that doesn't mean I'm literally an old dead horse that is about to be made into glue...

Rugbyplayersarehot · 11/02/2017 22:57

crunch Grin

angeldelightedme · 11/02/2017 22:58

Rugby
you git
i

angeldelightedme · 11/02/2017 23:00

Buggery is anal sex not rape.
Still, not a very nice thing to accuse your DS of!

kaitlinktm · 11/02/2017 23:09

I got told off for referring to some of my class as monkeys (I wasn't even cross with them). Sad

3littlebadgers · 11/02/2017 23:14

I think it depends on region and personal experience. My neighbour used to call her baby DD a git, bugger and bitch. None of them sat comfortably with me, but she obviously loved her daughter and that is what was more important.

ShaniaTwang · 12/02/2017 13:14

To be honest I would never ever refer to my dc as gits, little shits, cow bags, buggers etc. It doesn't sit right with me. I would never call them an insulting name to this face- umm that's verbal abuse, surely.

I would describe them to family or friends as 'I'm finding them a bit of a nightmare at the mo' if they are absolutely driving me up the wall. Because the difference is, is that I personally am finding their perfectly normal child behaviour difficult. Not that they as people are nightmares, gits, buggers and so on. There is a big difference.

NarkyMcDinkyChops · 12/02/2017 13:15

I would never call them an insulting name to this face- umm that's verbal abuse, surely

Not in my house, we affectionately call each other all kinds of things that may shock others, its culturally appropriate for us though.

dingdongthewitchisdead1 · 12/02/2017 13:16

lol I light heartedly call my ds something similar when he is being unreasonable and entirely un cooperative for no good reason, other than he is 22 months!