It happened in the shoe section at Big W. Casually browsing through the sandals, Tyson kneeling at my feet. He dropped a heel, paused and said: ‘b@&&er.’

Mortified. Where on earth did he learn…? Oh.

Confession time: Amongst my many and varied flaws is a weakness for the odd expletive. Something that seemed harmless enough… until I heard that word come out of my ‘epitome-of-innocence’ 3-year-old’s mouth.

The other customers in the aisle chuckled knowingly. That didn’t make me feel any better.

The words I want to speak into my children’s lives are of faith, hope and love. To me, this was an epic parenting fail.

A wake-up call.

Speak Life

The book of Proverbs doesn’t mince words when it comes to the power of words:

The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.
~ Proverbs 18:21 (NIV)

Our children will speak out what we speak into them. So, I choose to speak life.

I still catch myself mid-expletive sometimes and edit it to ‘shhhhhiver-me-timbers.’

So, now I have a couple of little pirates following me around.

Words of Love

Motivational speaker Anthony Robbins has written about the transforming power of words on your brain activity and how your words can actually change the outcome of any situation.

Speak life: give encouragement wherever possible. Make sure your kids know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, how much you love them. Choose your words wisely when offering constructive criticism.

“The way we talk to our children becomes their inner voice.”
— Peggy O’Mara

Our nightly ritual involves the boys and me climbing up to the top bunk in their room and snuggling together. We talk about all the things we’re grateful for about the day, and then hubby prays.

The boys’ favourite part comes at the end when we all loudly declare at the top of our lungs: ‘… And everybody said AMEN!’

As I leave the room, I whisper: ‘I love you.’ Because I want those to be the last words they hear every day.