Amanda Lamb: Teacher knows best

Sometimes I forget that I'm listening to satellite radio or watching cable television and a word that used to be forbidden from prime time media hits me in the face like a concrete block.

"Bad word," my youngest yells from the backseat. I quickly turn back to Radio Disney, or my personal favorite, The Coffee House.

Truth be told, my children think just about any word that is an insult or slang is a bad word. The teachers at the elementary school that my older daughter attended and my younger daughter still attends are very skillful in modeling respectful language. And now, my kids are trying to teach their parents the same lessons.

"Mommy, I have a contract for you to sign," my younger daughter announces as she affixes a piece of paper to the refrigerator with an Elvis magnet. "We can no longer say these words in our house. Mrs. Covington said so."

I look at the list and see that we have been falling terribly short of the third grade rules as a family. The list includes, "darn" and "dang" in all of their rudimentary conjugations. It also includes "yo" and "What the?" The apt title of her contract was "Words we cannot say in our house." She also put lines for us to sign the contract. We all promptly obliged.

So far, so good. My daughter is quick to point out when we fall short of the contract. She actually recently added a clause that says: "Do not sign if you are not following. It is a waste of paper."