My kindergartner came home from school recently with yet another tale of a classmate. The same kid who called her “stupidhead” last week wrote “big blue butt” during sentence-writing time…not exactly what their teacher had in mind, I’m sure. I saw my 9-year-old stifle a giggle when her sister shared the story. And so it begins (sigh…). As any parent knows, calling other kids names is a big no-no, but it’s hard for little ones to discern between which words are right vs. wrong, especially when the result of your actions is laughter throughout the classroom. One mom has set out to change all this and (hopefully) put an end to fresh talk or, at the very least, discourage it. Tapping into her own experience as a parent trying to teach her kids about kindness, she created the Tacky Box Set, a kit that puts the kabosh on unkind words. It comes with a storybook (one for girls and one for boys, sold separately), a special notepad on which kids can write down any bad word they may have picked up and a wooden box they can decorate and put those words inside. The premise is once the word has been written and placed in the box, it’s locked up and gone for good. What we like about the Tacky Box Set is that it lets kids feel like they’re in charge, rather than being reprimanded or lectured to. They make the choice to say goodbye to the bad words and banish them to a place where they’ll do no good all boxed up. We think it’s a great tool that helps parents make the discussion of inappropriate language a little less difficult, and lets kids play a part in making good choices, even at a young age. Maybe if every preschool and kindergarten teacher had a Tacky Box Set of these in their classroom, we’d hear a lot fewer “stupidheads.”
In a Nutshell: There’s a big world of words out there. Help your kids choose them wisely and even when they don’t, this special box puts the lid on bad choices.
