Thursday, June 3, 2010

Bad Words!? Do I have to Wash your Mouth out with Soap?



Well, my kids are out of school for the summer. I can't believe it's already summer! When did this happen and where was my memo?

Anyway, my daughter's teacher (who is a lifesaver and awesome all around woman) gave the children in her class a reminder of bad words. Yes, yucky bad words. Come on....you know you've said them before.

As I was sitting at my table revising, my cutie daughter quoted the poem to me.

I immediately ran to my Internet and looked up the author. It was written by Brod Bagert. I was very moved. You'll see why in a minute. BTW, you can visit Brod's website HERE.

I love this poem and I think it's a great reminder for all writers out there (Okay...everyone, not just writers). I hope you enjoy!

BAD WORDS

She actually said it.
She said it in class.
It sounded so nasty,
It sounded so crass.

The children stared,
The teacher scowled.
The custodian cried,
The principal howled.

Then poor little Patti,
My very best friend.
She opened her mouth,
And she said it again.

"Bad words, bad words!"
We all began to chant,
Never! Never! Never!
Never say the words....I CAN'T

So remember: keep on writing (dreaming, running, eating) and never say those yucky bad words!

If you want more of Brod's poems, buy his book Giant Children. I found it online at B&N. =D
Have a great week everyone!

10 comments:

Candyland said...

BEAUTIFUL!!! They're the worst words in our language (or any language!) and we need to be rid of them to succeed.

Melissa Cunningham said...

I LOVE this!

Shannon O'Donnell said...

Yay! I love it! Maybe I'll post it on my classroom wall. :-)

I wish we were out for summer. I'm stuck in school until next Tuesday afternoon. *sigh*

Vicki Rocho said...

That was so cute! Ahhhh, I remember the days when I felt like a rebel for saying "hell".

Anonymous said...

For a long time, my hubby refused to let our children use the word "can't." (It's actually quite hard to take out of your vocabulary.) Just following that helped us all to see that that you usually CAN do something if you're willing to cut out the can't.

Good post, Carolyn. =]

Becca said...

Excellent! We say, "Oh, no! You have a terrible case of the Can'ts." Which works well on the under-8 crowd. I dont' suggest trying it out on teenage girls. I'm just saying.
(My WordVeri is "oustrat" - which sounds like a novel in the making, doesn't it? "Oust the Rat!")

Anonymous said...

I love this too! I'd read it before but had forgotten until today. Thanks for bringing it back to my attention.

Renae said...

This was great!

Nichole Giles said...

Thanks Carolyn! Great poem. I love it.

Natalie said...

Lovely! I'm always calling my kids out when they say "can't." "Can't" just means you're afraid to try.