Teach your child to say %$#@

Val and Bob were tired of getting in trouble for saying words they heard on the playground. "We need to learn when these words are okay," said Val, twirling her red hair thoughtfully. "Let's start a Word Club!" suggested Bob, his eyes lighting up with excitement. Milo and Lila, their older neighbors, would be perfect to help them figure it all out.

"You want us to teach you about bad words?" asked Lila, raising an eyebrow at the younger kids. Milo laughed and said, "Our parents would flip out if they knew!" Val pulled out a piggy bank shaped like a jar and explained her plan. "We'll put money in whenever we say a bad word at the wrong time," Bob added.

The four friends sat in Val's treehouse with a notebook labeled "Word Club Rules." "Rule one: No saying %$#@ words around adults or little kids," wrote Lila carefully. "Rule two: Put a quarter in the jar if you slip up," added Milo with a grin. Val nodded seriously while Bob counted his quarters just in case.

The next day at school, Bob stubbed his toe during recess. He bit his lip hard instead of yelling what he wanted to. "Good job not saying you-know-what," whispered Val with an approving nod. Later, they proudly reported their success to Milo and Lila.

On Saturday, the four friends got stuck in the mall elevator for ten minutes. "Remember the elevator rules," Milo said calmly when Bob looked ready to panic. "No pressing all the buttons and definitely no bad words," Lila reminded them. Val took deep breaths while Bob counted backward from ten.

After two weeks, the jar had collected twelve dollars and fifty cents. "What should we do with our bad word money?" asked Bob, shaking the jar. Milo smiled and said, "Rule M is for Money – we save it for something important!" Lila suggested they start a lemonade stand to grow their funds even more.

They set up their lemonade stand next to Bob's dad's friend's hotdog cart. "Bob's Hotdogs are the best in town," Val announced to passersby with a grin. When a customer complained about the price, Bob almost said something inappropriate. Instead, he politely explained that quality costs a little more.

While riding bikes, Val saw a car nearly hit a dog and shouted a word that definitely belonged in the jar. "That was an emergency," Lila explained later at their meeting. "Sometimes strong feelings need strong words, but only in the right situation." Milo nodded in agreement while Bob looked relieved.

Milo taught them old-fashioned words adults used that sounded mysterious. "What's a 'payphone'?" asked Bob, scrunching his face in confusion. "It's where people used to make calls with coins before cell phones," explained Lila. Val and Bob practiced saying "Great Scott!" instead of modern expressions.

Their teacher assigned a presentation about communication, and the Word Club was ready. "Different situations need different words," Val explained to the class confidently. "Strong words have power, so use them wisely," added Bob with newfound expertise. Milo and Lila watched proudly from the back of the room.

The friends entered the library's tall tale contest with a story about a magical word jar. "Our jar grew into a talking tree that taught everyone perfect manners," Val described dramatically. Bob added, "It could tell when someone was about to say something inappropriate and would whistle loudly!" The audience laughed and applauded their creativity.

By summer's end, their jar was full and their vocabulary was impressive. "You kids are pretty street smart now," Milo said as they counted their savings. Lila added, "You know when to be polite and when to stand up for yourselves." Val and Bob high-fived, proud of their Word Club success.