How Much Money Is In My Swear Jar?

Since giving up swearing for Lent almost two weeks ago, things are going pretty well.  I have less than $10 in the swear jar so far...I'd say that's pretty good!  I have noticed that I think about cursing a lot more that I thought I did.  And the dialog in my head is pretty bad...I don't know if that's because I can't freely express myself, or if I always think this way...probably the latter...and I'm just noticing it now.

So what have my worst offenders been?  Well, I can't actually say, or write them here (those were the rules per my kiddos), but I can tell you that none of those offenses were f-bombs...I'm very proud of that!  Actually, all of them have been minor offenses, in my opinion...words that I use instead of using harsh f-bomb language.

Other than my language getting cleaned up, having extra money to donate to the church, and...you know...sacrificing for Jesus and all...other than that...a great benefit has been the joy my children have found in all of this.  They enjoy coming home to find more money in the jar and think it's funny that I'm being "punished" in some way by the swear jar.  Why is that? 

How are you doing on your Lenten promises?  Have you given something up or are you doing something extra instead?

I Find Your Lack Of Faith Disturbing

It's amazing how many of my friends and family don't have faith in me.  Unfrackingbelievable!  One of my family members actually said that cursing is my “natural language”.  Made me sound like a darned cave man!

Yes, it's been hard...I'm actually thinking about cursing a lot more since giving it up.  (You can read about me giving up cursing here.)  Like, in my head, I have a lot of bad language going on.  A LOT.  It's like if someone tells you to not think about something...first thing you do is think about it.  That's what the past two days have been like.

Many people actually told me to choose something else to give up.  Whaatt???  Since when do we just give up on something because it's difficult?  Come on people!  Yes, it's been hard and I'm struggling, but have a little faith in me.  I can do this.  I've been through worse.

And if I slip up...well, it's the thought that counts, right?  I'm trying my best!  In soliciting for suggestions on appropriate punishments for slipping up, one friend suggested $1 per offense.  This is reasonable, although I may have to hit the bank for some singles.  Of course, my son thinks the amount should be $5 per offense, but I just don't think that's very reasonable.  I slipped up twice on day one.  If I continue at that rate, I'd owe $450!  I'm just not made of that kind of money.

Anyone else find that their stubborn streak actually works as an advantage for them?  Without my stubbornness, there's no way I could get through the next few weeks!

Picture courtesy of Pixabay.com

I'm Giving Up Cursing For Lent

For those of you who don't know me, I'm a practicing Catholic.  And today is Ash Wednesday--the first day of Lent.  For the past few days, I've been discussing with my children the idea that we should be giving something up, or doing something extra for Lent.  Being that last night was Fat Tuesday (for non-Catholics: you eat it up and enjoy because Ash Wednesday is a day of fasting and reflection), we discussed, as a family, what sacrifices we would be making during Lent.

My husband is giving up caffeine...which means his morning coffee.  He does this every year so I wasn't surprised.  My daughter said she was going to give up gum.  Usually, I try to do something extra...like go to daily mass at least once a week, say the rosary, be nice to people I don't particularly like (that was a hard one).  But this year I decided to go old school and give something up.  And as I was sitting there with my kids, a light bulb went off...I decided to give up cursing.

Yes, you read that right. I'm going to stop cursing.

Cursing, cussing, swearing, using foul language...basically I can't be a potty mouth for the next 45 days.  Yes, I counted.  The good news is that once Easter rolls around I can go back to my salty language :)

When I told the kids last night about my decision to give up cursing, they laughed at me.  And I mostly keep it clean around them!  There was that week a few months ago when we almost died while in the car...and they heard some pretty colorful language out of my mouth...and I may have made some hand gestures to go along with the language...but, in my defense, we seriously were almost crushed by a tractor trailer...and they are old enough to know not to repeat me.

After they finished laughing at me, my kids gave me some guidelines...helpful little munchkins they are.  Not only am I not allowed to use the obvious foul language (the f-word, the b-word, etc), I'm also not allowed to use words like H-E-double hockey sticks.  Seriously with this???  To me, that's a “good” four letter word!  Plus, there is to be no cursing on facebook or my blog.  I was told that I can't even curse when I'm alone because “God will know”.

So, will this no-cursing be the end of me?  Will I be able to hold out?  I really need to find some interesting, and acceptable, substitute language.  If you have any suggestions on Lent-friendly word substitutes, please leave them in the comments section below.  I'm a former New Yorker...with an Italian background...I need to express myself somehow!

Without my big fat potty mouth, I feel like I've given up my superpower or something.  What have I done?

PS...My son wants to give up farting in his sister's face for Lent.  My intention of telling him that he needed to pick something appropriate came out all wrong.  What came out instead was, “You can't give that up for Lent”.  He smiled and laughed.