The Art of Teaching Big Adult Terms to Children

Very simple. Generally speaking, you just use the word from time to time in virtual isolation (that is, not within a long, convoluted sentence), and the child will begin to mimic. I used to babysit a two-year-old on a regular basis, and inadvertently taught him the word "decapitated", when he pulled the head off one of his toys, and the first words out of my mouth were "You decapitated him!" Don't ask me why I thought to say it that way. It just came out. And he copied me. And then everytime I babysat him, he would pull the heads off toys and say "It's decapitated!" with a gleeful smile. I wonder sometimes if his parents ever questioned why their son knew such a gruesome term... and then I wonder what horrible things my own daughter will copy from me and reproduce in awkward social situations. Having a kid makes you feel the need to reexamine all your daily habits and sayings (and I'm not just talking about sinful ones, which we should reexamine, kids or no, because they are an affront to the Cross - I mean things like eating straight out of the ice cream container or double-dipping your finger in the peanut butter jar or sitting with your legs in various contorted positions at the dinner table, none of which, of course, I ever do).