Yesssssss?
This morning, I was complaining and calling the dog names. I try not to yell at him but he snatches food from my children and that makes me angry. After I was finished calling him names this morning, the 3 year old asked me, “Mama, what is that you’re saying? Are you saying ‘You Yessss!’?” So I had to tell him that I was not calling the dog a “Yesss” but a, well, another word that ends with a lot of “s” sounds. In fact, that word comes in handy in combination with lots of other words.

I have to watch my mouth. Earlier in the year, my 8 year old, the type-A conscientious one, asked me as we walked away from school, “Mom, is smartass a bad word?”
Me: Uhhh, well, that depends. Why do you ask?
8 year old: Well, today in class, I was reading a book with my reading group, and we were talking about a character in the book. And, I told the group that I thought that the character was sort of a smartass.
Me: (gasp) What happened then — did you get in trouble?
8 year old: No, a bunch of the kids raised their hands to tell the teacher but he never called on them.
Me: Well, I’m glad that you didn’t get in trouble. In the future, it would probably be a good idea to not say that. And, I’ll try to not say either. (Mentally adding it to a long of list of words that I’m trying not to say.)

That was like 6 months ago. So, you know, I’ve not really succeeded in the not saying some words category. Oh well.