Lately, I’ve noticed my son saying things that make me do a double take—words that sound a bit… rough.
I kept wondering, “Where is he picking up that kind of language?”
But then I paused and thought about it more calmly.
Maybe the answer is closer than I want to admit.
The truth is, I’m not exactly a model of polite speech myself.
Even my wife occasionally says, “You don’t have to say it like that—it sounds kind of harsh.”
So recently, I’ve been trying to be more mindful about the way I speak.
For example, instead of saying something like, “This food’s damn good,” I’ve been trying to say, “This meal is delicious.”
Or at least, I think I have.
But honestly, I’m not trying to sound fancy or anything.
Where I come from, that kind of speech is just part of the local dialect—it slips out naturally.
Still, I understand that to others, it can sound crude or aggressive.
Now that I’m seeing how it might be affecting my son, I realize it’s something I need to take seriously.
I want to believe that no matter how old we are, we can always grow.
Then came one unforgettable morning.
My son mumbled something under his breath, something that sounded suspiciously like a swear word.
It was so quiet, I wasn’t sure what I heard, so I asked, “What did you just say?”
He quickly denied it.
“Nothing,” he said.
“Wait, did you just say ‘You idiot’?” I asked again.
He stuck to his story. “I didn’t say anything.”
So I pushed a little: “Then what did you say?”
He hesitated… and then came the shocker:
“…Hamburger.”
I burst out laughing.
That was the moment the “Hamburger Master” was born in our home.
After that, I made a deal with my son:
“If you ever feel really mad, or like you want to yell at someone, don’t say the real thing.
Just shout ‘HAMBURGERRRR!’ instead.”
Since then, whenever we’re about to argue or feel annoyed, someone yells “Hamburger!” and we all crack up.
It’s amazing how that one word can break the tension and turn anger into laughter.
In a way, I think it’s become a form of anger management in our household.
Words have power.
They can hurt, or they can heal.
And every day, my son reminds me just how important it is to choose them wisely.
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