Meet the mum who lets her kids swear all the time at home - including telling her to "f*** off". Lucinda Hart, an author, believes language shouldn't be censored.
So she lets daughters Rafi, nine, and Aelfrida, six, say what they like in private. Lucinda, 47, says the girls - who were born via IVF - know the "invisible boundaries" and don't swear in public.
But the air in their home in Mullion, Cornwall, is often turned blue. Lucinda, a single mum, said: "I do not censor words with my children. That is not what language is for.
“I love language - it’s natural to swear. I tell them they can say what they want at home. They know the invisible boundaries.”
“The girls might say, ‘F*** off Mum'. But the dinner ladies always say they are smiley and kind. I tell them to never make personal comments to people.”
Lucinda “hates” euphemisms and has taught her daughters about anatomy from a young age – using their correct terms instead of words such as ‘tinkle’ and ‘minnie’. She said: “I’m not going to make up words. Anatomy is beautiful.
"They know about a vagina and penis. They knew about egg and sperm from a young age. And I say to the girls, 'Don’t say poo say, s*** or c***. A person at work would always say, ‘Oh sugar’ instead of swearing. I just think say it or don’t say it at all.”
Lucinda talks to her daughters about language to help them become at ease with it. She said: “I had a conversation with Rafi about the word ‘f***’ and how it originated. She is an amazing writer. She’s already at ease with language”
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She said the girls know the “boundaries” and don’t swear at school or in front of other mums. Lucinda said: “They never say it out at school.
“If either the girls did swear at school and the school called me in I would say, ‘Sorry - it spilled over from home’. To me it’s not a big deal [swearing]. It’s like an extra bit of punctuation.”
Lucinda is encouraging other parents to not censor their language and not worry about holding their tongue. She said: “What matters is your kids are kind and well-behaved.
“There are so many things to worry about as a parent – don’t worry about things that don’t matter. Language has been changed and wrecked in so many ways but these old words are pretty much the same.
"I like the idea that people hundreds of years ago would say the same thing when they stub a toe or whatever. These are words that have endured."
