Back in the old days, when a young child uttered a “dirty” word, he was likely to suffer the rather unpleasant consequence of having his mouth washed out with soap.  While I hesitate to criticize the practices of previous generations, it is clear that this was inappropriate and often counterproductive.

在早年间，如果一个孩子冒出一个脏字儿，他可能得面对一个惩罚，就是用肥皂洗嘴……

虽然我不太想批评我们的长辈们，但是这显然是不适当的应对方式而且往往适得其反。

Young children are small creatures in a big world and often feel powerless.  Consequently, any time they do something that gets a strong reaction from adults, they derive an enormous sense of satisfaction, even if the reaction is negative in nature.  This merely encourages them to continue and even increase the behavior.

小宝宝在这个世界里不但个头儿小支，而且也会倍感弱小。所以，不管什么时候，当他们的行为得到大人们的强烈反应时，不管这反应是负面的还是正面的，他们都会觉得小小的自己变得引人注目了，而得到了满足。这多少是鼓励了他们继续甚至增加自己的这种行为。

Therefore, when your little one blurts out a nasty expletive, it would be wise to take a two-fold approach.  First, ignore him.  He may repeat it several times in an effort to invoke a response.  But if you hold firm he will realize that it is not getting him what he wants and will eventually abandon the strategy.  Second, strive to give him a strong positive reaction when he says or does nice things.

也就是说，当你的宝宝脱口而出一句恶语时，有两步聪明的做法。第一，忽视。他可能会重复几遍以引起大人的回应，但如果你坚持不理他，慢慢的他就会意识到他不能通过这个行为达到引人注意的目的，久而久之就会放弃这个行为了。第二，在他们说出得体的话语时极力的给予表扬。

Remember, it is all about power.  And you want to teach him that he will be successful when he uses his power for good and unsuccessful when he uses it for evil.  The result will be a small Superman of whom you can be proud rather than a little Lex Luthor who will continually look for ways to annoy you.

记住，这一切都关乎能量。你需要让宝宝们明白，当他们做对的事情时，他们就会变强大，当他们做错了，将失去力量，变得更渺小。这样你的小宝贝就会成为让你感到骄傲的小超人，而不是一个不停的给你找麻烦的小 Lex Luthor。