Parent Hacks has become one of my favorite daily visits. They give you tips, shortcuts or “hacks” on raising your child. Sort of like the proverbial “how to” book we parents are always whining for.

So, today’s hack is to use your drive time to help your kiddo figure out the meanings of over- under, before after- etc. “We are behind that red car” or “We are going under a bridge.” Cool, right? Better than them hearing GO LADY! all the time.

I just wish I’d got this particular hack years ago.

Our car rides have never been educational. Now, I got over swearing in the car when the kiddos popped out. Instead, I thought I’d be smart and swear in Spanish. No one around me is going to understand why my kid calls other cars cabron, or know what it means.

Hmm. Not so smart. Turns out, they don’t really forget those words they learned at 2 or 3. Even foreign words.

We travel to Mexico quite often. Imagine our extended family’s surprise when 4 year old Beast mutters the Spanish equivalent of m—-f—- to a particularly slow, older driver. Tsk tsk bad American parents! (in his, and our, defense to him it was just another word. Like amarillo or hasta luego.)

Lesson learned: don’t swear in any language in front of your kids. And visit ParentHacks.com for advice from people a wee bit smarter than me. (But come back here cause I’m funnier!)

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