I am paying dearly, every day, for words that I've banned.

Like stupid. It is a word discouraged at school and when told by my 4-year-old that stupid is a word we shouldn't use, I whole-heartedly agreed as much as I could while trying to keep my eyes and ears peeled to the action of Law & Order.

Um is on the list, too. And hate (which I clearly say more than I realized because every other second I'm reminded that "hate is strong word and we aren't supposed to say it."

And when she jokingly called me a knucklehead, I banned that word but said bobohead was completely acceptable because that's one of my favorite words and I didn't want that on the no-no list.

What words do you regret banning?

(Photo: Mikko Luntiala, Flickr)

This video of a Florida teacher punching a student isn't the whole story but it's alarming. I mean, geez, what the heck did this student do to make the teacher cold-clock him, and what is going on in classrooms that a teacher would resort to violence?

The state attorney isn't going to charge the woman with child abuse but the school district is investigating the incident so she's not out of the woods, yet.

Should teachers be trained to walk, or run away, from threatening situations like this or are all parents now on notice that their misbehaving child will get a beat down in class?

My kids did well in school this year, and all I did was say "congratulations." I get the feeling they want something more tangible, meaning, gifts.

My 17-year-old hinted that her FRIENDS were getting presents for their straight As. I knew what she was getting at, but I did not take the bait.

My kids went to Montessori pre-schools, which encourage love of learning for its own sake, not for a reward. I embraced this philosophy and have tried to reinforce it in my house.

I see parents carrying presents or flowers at awards ceremonies and wonder if I should do the same. I know my kids would appreciate it, but I feel like it would go against the ideas I am trying to instill. Still, I wonder if I am denying them a pleasure they deserve for their hard work.

I'm sure glad I didn't have an activist mom. I didn't have a weirdo mom. My mom didn't use me or any of my three sisters to make some social statement.

Check out, if you haven't caught wind of this, the story about a mom who is keeping the gender of her baby a secret. The baby's name is Storm, and it looks like a boy to me. But whatever.

If my mom had done that, suggesting I look plain enough to possibly pass as a boy, and dressing me in gender- neutral clothing so that she robbed me of precious pink baby photos, not to mention made me the center of a media "storm,'' I don't think I would approve. Nor would I want my name to be Storm if I were in fact a girl.

Click here to read about it.

My 12-year-old announced last night I should not expect any grandchildren from her. Her science teacher's detailing of "pubic lice" turned her stomach.

It's that time of year again, when middle school kids learn about sex in their science classes. It's become an end-of-the-year ritual in our school district; my guess is that few parents will complain because school is almost over.

Still, in my layman's view of this, there's a fine line between discouraging kids from having sex to disgusting them with graphic details of sexually transmitted diseases and conditions, including pubic lice. I want my kids to learn all about these potential problems, but also want them to know about loving adult relationships with a single partner.

I'm sure the teachers emphasize this, and I thank them for enduring the immaturity of middle school kids as they try to engage them in this important topic. My daughter's teacher apparently had enough of their giggling: She made them put their heads down and be quiet to return some order to the room.

As far as I can tell, the month of May has become a time for playing board games and watching movies in our high schools.

After Advanced Placement exams, which are in early May, many teachers seem to throw in the towel. My daughter's school days consist of movies, parties and game-playing.

Her AP English teacher is doing a poetry unit. Thank you, teacher! Thank you! There is still a lot for these kids to learn, even if the all-important AP exam is over.

To top it all off, our school will be closed on May 26 because all the teachers are needed for graduation. Why not cancel the whole month while we're at it?

I'm at the point in my parenting that I need to look past Oprah, Fox News, the strict Chinese "Tiger mom'' or whoever else might have tips for me. I am going to the great philosophers of all time.

I happened to glance through some Plato this morning. It's not worth explaining why I was doing this. Suffice to say that I do not, on a regular basis, read Plato in the mornings. But this morning, I happened to.

And this one section grabbed me. I wanted to share it with you as food for thought. I don't know the context, except to say this was in his "The Function of the Rulers'' chapter of The Republic.

"... Our children's pastimes, then, as I began by saying, must be kept from the first within stricter bounds; if any license be admitted, they will catch the spirit and will never grow into law-abiding and well-conducted men. And so, when children have made a good beginning in their play, and musical education has instilled a spirit of order, this reverence for law will attend them in all their doings and foster their growth, restoring any institutions that may earlier have fallen into decay.''

This is another vote for strict parenting. How many votes do we need before we crack down?