Why Dax Shepard and Kristen Bell Allow Their Kids to Swear -- And Seth Meyers Won't

Shepard opened up about the decision, which many do not agree with at all, in the latest episode of his Armchair Expert podcast. In fact, guest Seth Meyers is one of the many, with the Late Night host explaining why he and wife Alexi Ashe won't be following suit at his house.

"My defense of it is, I just told the girls, like, 'Hey, these are noises that come out of your mouth, and you assign what they mean to you,'" Shepard said of his and Bell's policy about their daughters swearing in the house.

He also had to acknowledge that it has a little something to do with how he uses the language himself. "I fully swear in front of my kids," he admitted. And as such, "They are allowed to swear, not with impunity, but when it’s called for, and they land it, and it’s in the house and not out at a restaurant, it’s okay."

All of those caveats are the parameters and boundaries of the policy as it stands for Shepard and Bell's household. But Meyers was pretty adamant that he absolutely does not think that would work at his home or with his children, sons Ashe and Axel, 9 and 7 respectively, and daughter Adelaide, 3.

Nor do he and his wife allow it, as general policy, though it does still happen from time to time.

"Sometimes the kids will curse and she’ll look at me again, like they learned it from me," Meyers said. "And I’m like, we walked them to school in New York City. Yesterday, someone’s on the phone saying, ‘Tell them to f--k around and find out.'"

"And then the kids are like, ‘What does that mean?’" he continued. "I'm like, 'Well.'"

Another factor for Meyers is the whole boys of the situation, which Shepard and Bell don't have to deal with in a household of all daughters. Meyers explained that he worries his boys would totally ignore any rules about only cursing in the house, saying, "For us, it’s the fear that they’re gonna take it to school."

"Let’s not underestimate girls and boys," he said of the differences. "I think with my daughter, 100 percent. You could probably trust her with it. ‘Yeah, I’m gonna tell you this word, don’t say it at school.’ The boys?"

"They're gonna say it immediately," Shepard interjected, agreeing wholeheartedly. At the same time, he added, "There's no way you're introducing [curse words]," he said, certain that their kids are already hearing them from other kids at school.

Meyers also joked that it's not even so much that they're using your expressions or curse words, but that kids will "steal your delivery." He explained it in relation to one of his own habits.

"Alexi and I are having the most minor of disagreements. I’ll say, like, ‘Jesus Christ,’ as I, like, walk out of the room," he said. "And like, the other day, for real, I just heard Ashe be like, ‘Jesus Christ.’ I’m like, ‘All right, we got to talk about it.'"

Shepard's comments about how his family handles curse words today is an evolution from when Bell last talked about it during a 2020 appearance on Good Morning America. Then, she shared the story of when Bell came home and purportedly told them, "You never told me f--k was a bad word."

She said that she and Shepard used to not react intentionally when their daughters would curse because they figured a bigger reaction might encourage the girls to use the language more often. After that, they realized they needed to talk about it, eventually settling on their current policy.

But they might not want to invite Meyers' boys over for a playdate anytime soon!