Thursday, December 9, 2010

Simple, right?

My little handsome Superman is now a whole four years old, but his mouth just turned twenty. I knew that  having a little sister would raise some uncomfortable questions, but never did I think they would come up so soon.

We are very open about our bodies and "private parts" in our house, I just did not want my kids feeling that their nakedness and parts were something to be ashamed of. Much to my mothers dismay, we have very accurate names for those parts. I really don't think names like "flower" and "willy" really made any sense, so just imagine what the kids thought.

Many parents may not agree with my views on this, but I read a lot about it and would rather have them know their bodies for themselves at a young age, other than having people outside of our home teaching them about all they have. I can just see my mom cringing to this topic...lol

Well, since hubby works out at night a lot, I take care of the kids mostly on my own, and bathing both separately did just not make sense since I have to do it while I am busy cooking supper. Knowing that they are both in the same place and that L could call me if something was wrong with A at any time, puts my mind a little more at ease. But of course bathing them together would spark a little more interest in the different sexes than I would like right now, but what can I do?

At first L used to tell me how he and his dad are the same, and have the same "parts", which was fairly easy to explain. He understood that, and was happy that he and his dad were so closely related in those areas.
But then things took a sudden surprise turn. Here is how the conversation went:

L:       "Mommy, I need the toilet."
Me:     Helping him to sit down.
L:       "Mommy, Daddy and me are the same neh"
Me:    "Yes L" 
L:       "And mommy, we both have........, neh"
Me:     " Yes L"
L:       Taking a second to think
L:      " Mommy, so what do you and A have?"
Me:     Laughing hysterically
Hubby:   Runs to hide in the kitchen, laughing out loud.
L:       Staring at me curiously.
Me:     " Why do you ask that L?"
L:        "Mommy, me and Daddy are the same, you and A are the same, but what do you have?"
Me:      Trying to compose myself, still laughing.
Me:    " A and Mommy have ....."
L:        "Oh, okay. Mommy, Please wipe my bum"

And that is where it ended. For some reason I thought the questions were going to become more detailed in nature, and was terrified of how I was going to answer all those questions. But he is still four, needs his mommy to wipe his bum, and in that little brain of his, that was a satisfying answer, I guess.  He has asked a few times what it is called again, but never more than that. Maybe he just needed a name to associate it with, and boy and I glad he had the courage to ask me. I really would not want him to find out from some other misinformed four year old.

So this was the beginning of many years of awkward questions, and since hubby takes the first exit when the topic comes up, I will be the one answering all the not so nice to answer questions.

Simple, Right?

This Post was inspired by Mama Kat's Writers Workshop Prompt No 1. Simple.


Mama Kat's Writers Workshop

5 comments:

Bruna said...

I agree with you on every level. I have three girls and we have used the proper names for body parts since they were young enough to talk. I didn't have that growing up myself and felt that it is one area I wanted to parent differently. Your little man sounds so darn cute. I think you're a good Mommy.

Stopping by via Mama Kat's!

Kim said...

I agree that it makes sense to call a rose a rose. I answer all the questions my almost three year old has with honesty. Visiting from Mama Kat

Anonymous said...

Oh my! Sounds like you have a lot of interesting conversations ahead of you!! haha.
I agree with you - using proper names is best - and it's better than he learns from you instead of 'another misinformed 4 year-old' as you said.

Miss Angie said...

What an adorable kiddo! I totally agree; I believe if we teach our kids that things are normal, less will be taboo and they wont get into as much trouble by wanting to do these things that are "wrong" in their parents eyes... You know, when they hit that rebellious stage. :P

I think you're a fabulous mom!

You can see my Writer's workshop post here.

Holly Lefevre said...

O grew u with weird names for parts, but we use the real ones. I now have a boy and a girl and it can get interesting for sure!