Dear Margo: My wife has always had what I refer to as a "trucker's mouth." Her whole family does. They can have conversations averaging at least one swear word per sentence. I'm no puritan and can swear with the best of them, but when I do, I try to do so only in appropriate company.

In the two years since our daughter, "Gloria," was born, I've been asking my wife to curb her swearing. Alas, the cursing continues. I wasn't so worried during the first 12 months, figuring I'd give my wife some time to transition herself, and also because my daughter was too young to understand a swear word from any other word.

Now Gloria is 2, and she's talking up a storm. This battle came to a head last night when my wife was so wound up that she kept swearing about this and that, even after I repeatedly asked her to stop. (We were out for a walk with Gloria at the time.) She didn't, and so I walked away from her, taking Gloria with me. We haven't spoken since. — Cursed in Massachusetts

Dear Curse: Well, at least you're not hearing her swear. (Kidding.) This is a problem you are unlikely to be able to fix. People who overly rely on swear words reveal a poverty of language skills, and to retrain an adult would be very difficult.

You are right about kids picking up on this language, however. Perhaps the first time your wife hears Gloria mention &*^%$# to her grandmother, she might rethink what she says. Failing this, should Gloria start talking like a sailor before she even knows what the words mean, you need to be the one to tell her that while Mommy is saying a no-no, Gloria is not allowed to.

I do believe there's a way to use an occasional vulgarity in conversation and still stay within the bounds of polite society. Ahem. But you have to gauge where you are. I had a bit of a potty mouth when my kids were little, but they were somehow able to understand the restriction: "Not in front of Gram!" Good luck. — Margo, discriminatingly

ARE THANK-YOU NOTES OLD-FASHIONED?

Dear Margo: My husband's sister has two children, ages 7 and 5. Every year for their birthdays, we send them a card and a check. For the first year or two, we always received a thank-you email. The last couple of years, though, we have received no acknowledgement at all.

I was raised to believe that not acknowledging a gift is the height of rudeness. My husband, however, says I am being "old-fashioned" and that people just don't have time to write thank-you notes anymore (though I manage it, somehow).

I know the classic response to an unacknowledged gift is to call the recipient and inquire whether they received it. But because I mailed a check, it would be obvious to both of us that I would know they had received it if it cleared my account (which it always does, of course).

Is my sister-in-law in the wrong here, or is my husband right that I am just demanding to expect an acknowledgement? — Aunt Fussy?

Dear Aunt: Guess what? Five- and 7-year-olds aren't so busy that they don't have time to acknowledge gifts — particularly since they've done so in the past. I agree with you. Their mother has dropped the ball. She clearly "guided" them to write thank-you notes in the past — in an e-mail form, yet, not even a note in the mail.

My own response to the kids' non-response would be to skip the check with the next birthday greetings. Your ability to find out whether the check cleared in no way negates the necessity of a thank-you note. — Margo, graciously

Dear Margo is written by Margo Howard, Ann Landers' daughter. To learn more about Margo Howard or to read features by other writers, visit creators.com.