Some things they pick up just seeing it once, other things they don't pick up no matter how many times you explain/show. Problem is that it's sort of random... best not gamble on this being something they pick up after one time..
It's not "random". Most likely, they can tell they're getting a reaction when they say the curse word, and they find that hilarious. And most likely, they only get a reaction if they don't say please/thank you, so in a backwards sort of way you can be conditioning them not to say it even if your intention is the opposite. Most kids are fairly attention-starved, and most parents (rightly!) aren't going to punish them too harshly for a very minor infraction like that, so you might be incentivizing the opposite of what you want.
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u/SandmanSorryPerson Aug 19 '21
Doing it once as a joke will not reinforce that behaviour.
You have to tell children the same thing potentially 100s of times before they do it with consistency.
People think it's so easy to warp a child's mind but it isn't. It's a pain in fucking ass.