Is your first reaction to swear if you stub your toe or catch your finger in a door? If so, you may be following nature’s way of helping you not feel the pain. Seriously.
According to a study, published recently in the online journal NeuroReport , reacting to pain by swearing was part of the so-called fight-or-flight response humans feel when they perceive a threat.
Researchers studied 67 students who submersed a hand in ice water. Half the group cursed and the other half didn’t. The researchers found that the students who cursed were able to withstand the ice cold water better …read more

I took the advice of a reader, cannot remember who it was now, that suggested having kids who curse, clean a toilet. Guess what? It works! The child who was having the biggest problem of curbing his cursing, has quickly learned how much fun scrubbing a toilet is not. I think that he figured I would soon grow tired of supervising toilet scrubbing. He figured wrong. When the toilets were all gleaming white and freshly scented, I moved on to other areas of choice. We continued this little method of curing him, until he thought before spewing obscenities.
Since implementing this idea, …read more

My son has an invisible amulet around his neck. It is causing him to use words that he knows are off limits in our house. Not just the usual bad words like “Sucks,” but really bad ones like the B word. I admit to having a potty mouth, at times. I know that it is a habit that I need to break. However, we never use the B word at home and I’m not sure why he suddenly feels compelled to call his siblings this particular moniker when he is mad at them. I’ve tried to discuss the matter with …read more

 
Holy cow! There sure is a lot of controversy based on last night’s Supernanny episode! It seems that the public is divided on their views of using soap as a disciplinary tactic. I will admit to using soap, on a very rare occasion, as a form of discipline. My mother used it on me once, for calling my Kindergarten teacher and old lady. It only took one time to cure me. My own sons have gotten their tongues swabbed with soap, but never were made to swallow it. I learned that it was toxic and considered child abuse, so we …read more