Language Please!

I suppose it was inevitable. We've covered the birds and the bees. Boy, have we covered them! Poppet has a somewhat scientific mind and likes to leave no stone unturned with her questions.
And now we're talking language. A few months ago her photography teacher said s*#t during class, whoops. It just got swept under the carpet. Mummy wasn't ready.
But the other day she came home from school with a couple of extra words which had been written on toilet walls and probably shared in the playground. Awesome.
I decided not to be too extreme with this topic. She is a very responsible child, and quite intelligent when it comes to being appropriate. Mostly. I told her that these words are considered very extreme language, particularly for children.She wanted to know their literal meanings (great) and we imagined up a scale with "shut up" at one end and "f*#k" at the other.  No doubt there will come a time in the playground when she and her friends use these words almost exclusively, but this isn't the time. She has a mixed bunch of friends and I'm pretty sure some of the grade 1s aren't familiar with the 'f' word yet. I told her that while it seems fun and 'cool' when you're young to speak this way, it's just another habit like biting your nails and can be very hard to break. Moderation is the key.
We decided together that the word 'sugar' might be more useful if she feels the need to 'swear'. For now. Certainly better than her spelling out S.H.I.T. yesterday when she was unhappy with a sketch!
I'm sure she'll end up like the teenager I heard yesterday who didn't seem to have anything else in his vocabulary arsenal. I certainly did.
But at home we weren't even allowed to say "shut up". And rightly so, it's all about being appropriate and considering who you are speaking with. I remember the first time I heard my mother drop the f-bomb. I was about 16 (my sister's 21st) and I was completely blown away by it. I thought it was outrageous and very exciting.  No doubt she used that word plenty as I grew up, but I never heard it. Kudos to that, mum.
So we'll attempt to hold back the swearing tide for a little longer. Though I'd love to share this with her...

image via here

But I guess that will have to wait a little longer.

What about you? What's your take on swearing? Do you swear in front of the kids, allow them to swear?
Have you ever resorted to the swear jar?