"Oh my God!" was Jamie's response this evening when I showed him a picture of a Scooby Doo monster he hadn't seen before.
"You can't say that!" I replied with genuine alarm to my son (4). "Where did you learn that?!"
"At school," he said. "Lots of people say that at school."
"Well you don't say it!" I fired back.
Jamie's unfortunate outburst came in the wake of a not dissimilar incident last week when, after finding a previously undiscovered label inside his school jumper, he shrieked: "What the hell is that?!"
Again, I launched an immediate protest/enquiry which soon revealed that he'd heard this particular unwanted phrase on Doctor Who. Again, something of a relief to me.
I say this because, since becoming a dad, I have tried incredibly hard not to swear in front of the kids - and generally succeeding. (Believe me, I make up for it when they're not around).
But my own father was not so discreet, as a famous (in our family) episode involving my eldest sister proved.
Jacquie was very young and learning to talk. And my mum, who has always been a whizz with a needle and thread, shoved her into a new homecrafted dress. It may (or may not) have looked like the one Charlotte wore on Christmas Day.
Jacquie was then placed in front of a mirror and asked for her opinion of her new garment.
"It's f***ing lovely," she replied.
I'm sure it was.
