Tag Archives: parenting advice

Parenting Tip #2: Little Smart-Mouth Girls Are Not Cute

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NOTE TO PARENTS (especially mothers):  little smart-mouth girls are not cute.  They’re not funny either.

Smart-mouth kids is a pet peeve of mine, probably because I wasn’t mouthy while growing up.  I turn my head so fast in the direction of kids talking smart to their parents, or any other adult, that I’m surprised my neck haven’t snapped by now.

This blog post focuses on toddler and preschool-aged girls.  Those little 2-5 year-old girls that stand with their hands on their hips while talking.  They can barely pronounce their own names, yet they are able to say an assortment of smart-alecky words.

My niece was one of those little mouthy girls at that age.  She was around age 3 or 4 when one day, out of nowhere, she said, “For your information.”  I had no idea what she was talking about, and neither did she.  She now has a 5 year-old daughter who’s even mouthier.

For some reason, and I don’t care to know that reason, a lot of women think it’s cute and funny when toddler and preschool girls talk smart.  Well it’s not.  And I can’t stand the following:

  • “Oh did you hear her?  She’s so cute.”
  • “Ain’t she cute?”
  • “Ain’t she grown?”
  • “Look at her lil grown self.”
  • “Gone girl with yo’ bad self.”

These little girls walk around, talking smart to whomever they like, and their mothers don’t say a word.  Well, not all mothers keep quiet.  Some mothers, or other female figures, don’t allow that madness.  My mother, sisters and I didn’t allow my niece to talk smart around us.

A few years ago while I was at work, a little girl around 4-5 years of age, was standing at the nurses’ station talking smart and sassy.  She responded sensibly when asked her name and age, but the attitude was definitely there.  One of my co-workers laughed loudly and said, “Ain’t she grown y’all?  Ain’t she grown?”  My other co-workers and I told her no, that she was not grown.

A few minutes later, the child’s aunt arrived while she was talking.  The aunt quickly put an end to that madness.  She told the child that she didn’t know why her mother let her talk that way, but that she was going to stop it.

Mouthy female toddlers and preschoolers are not cute.  And they’re not grown.  They are disrespectful.  But I can’t blame them because they don’t know any better.  I blame their parents, especially their mothers.

Parenting Tip #1: Hand Washing

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Hand washing is the best way to prevent germs from spreading and avoid getting sick.  Kids may listen when parents tell them to wash their hands, but it’s our job to make sure they follow through with it.  We can’t follow our kids everywhere they go, but we can make sure they ALWAYS wash their hands while at home, in hopes they do the same when they are out in the public.

I went into a restroom at a fast-food restaurant a few days ago.  Both stalls were taken, until a little girl walked out of one of them.  I went into the stall, and the child started talking to another young girl in the other stall.  Within a couple of minutes, both of the girls walked out of the bathroom without washing their hands.  Maybe I overreacted.  The soap and water worked for me, but maybe it was just a coincidence.  Maybe it wasn’t working at the time for the girls.  Yeah right.

Parents, please stress the importance of hand washing to your children.  Soap and water.  Hand sanitizer if, if necessary.

Training kids to wash their hands from an early age will hopefully stick with them into adulthood.  That way, they won’t become like the lady I saw in a restroom at a courthouse a few months ago.  She used the bathroom, but ran her fingers (not the entire hands) under the water for no more than two seconds.  I used a public restroom at my job recently.  On two separate occasions, a woman walked out of the stall, and right on out of the bathroom without stopping at the sink.  UGH.  GROSS.  NASTY.