.a peek inside the thoughts of a stay at home mom....

a peek inside my thoughts on motherhood, life, love, and anything I decide to talk about!

Friday, November 5, 2010

Oh... the wonderful world of genital nicknames!....

From early on we taught our 4 year old son that when it comes to private parts we call them by their anatomical name. Since we've been doing that, Nathan will usually correct me if I slip and use a nickname for a private part.  Anyway, on Tuesday Nathan and I had a very strange but funny conversation.

It all started when I out of nowhere, I got a sharp pain in between my legs while we were sitting down to lunch. I yelled out in pain. Nathan looked at me very concerned and said,"What's wrong Mommy? Are you ok?" I turned to him and said, "I"m fine honey. Mommy just had a pain in her.... uh....cooter." He looked at me and laughed, "No Mommy don't call it that."  I say, "fine....my vagina."  He laughed and said, "oh mommy...that's a silly word." I told him that it's actually the right word for it. (which he knows). He then told me, "yeah, but you laugh when I say it." I smiled and said, "well, that's just because it sounds so cute when you do."

I then looked at him and asked him if he remembers the name of his boy part? (almost just making sure he still wants to use the "right" word for it) I said.."Do you have a peanut?" "NO mommy." He said laughing, "I have a penis!"  I then asked him if he new what else he had. He looks at me confused and said no. So, I decided that he should know fully what he has down there. I told him that he has a penis and testicles.  Well, I thought for sure he was going to shoot juice out of his nose. He was laughing and said "No mommy! Don't say that!" So joking (and taking it too far like I tend to do) I said, "fine, how about balls?' He shakes his head. "No!"  I say, "Okay, Okay...you have a coin purse." Nathan looks at me, smiles and says, "Okay."  Almost like...sure, I can deal with that.

We both started laughing so hard. He wanted to call his daddy on his lunch break. We did. My husband answered and Nathan proudly exclaimed, "Hi Daddy, I have a penis and a coin purse!" At first, my husband couldn't hear what Nathan said. So Nathan said it again. When Mike finally figured it out, I heard him shout to his coworkers, "Guess what my son just said!"  :o)

  I still think about that conversation and just start laughing. He said it with such innocence which makes it even funnier. I realized that he is now getting to the age that he thinks the correct anatomical terms sound funny, weird, or gross to him.  Apparently, he is okay with the word penis. Vagina is pushing it (which I can't blame him on that one) and forget about ever uttering the word testicles! The term "coin purse' is much more suitable in his eyes! LOL! Growing up I was always weirded out by those terms too. Why couldn't they make the word for the female anatomy a little less gross or ugly sounding? Why couldn't it be  prettier sounding like a word derivative of a flower or something. Life would be a lot more interesting if we could walk around saying, "Cooter, Vajayjay, Pee pee, peanut, balls, coin purse and be taken completely seriously. I'm just saying.  :o) Now, this doesn't mean that when he's taking a shower or bath that I will tell him, "Make sure to wash your coin purse." But, maybe we can stick to the word "privates" until he gets a little more comfortable with certain anatomical terms.

That leads me to my question for you all. What do you prefer to tell your little ones? Do you teach them the anatomical terms? Or, do you teach them the nicknames for private parts and just deal with the correct terminology when they get older? Or, a little bit of both?

I figured with this post, I'd lighten the mood and do something lighthearted and funny since it is Friday! I hope everyone has a great Friday, and a fantastic weekend!!  ♥

7 comments:

  1. OMG I laughed out loud at "coin purse". so funny! Luckily for me, we haven't crossed this bridge yet becuz Hunter isn't really talking yet (other than mama, dada, etc) but when I change his diaper or bathe him I DO say either "penis" or "peeps" or even "junk" as in "let's wash your junk now". LOL I realize I probably can't keep calling it "junk" when he realizes what I'm saying cuz now that I"m typing it here I realize it doesn't sound very good. LOL

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  2. I love that you are treating this issue with the normalcy of any other part of the body. I hate it when people say certain words are "bad"! I do the same as you with my four year old son, though we don't have quite the colorful conversations!

    I am glad to become a follower of your blog. Check out mine if you want...
    http://www.thewayiseeitthroughmylens.blogspot.com

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  3. April- yes, I have caught myself saying "junk" too. I just pray he doesn't say junk or "coin purse" at preschool! LOL!

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  4. Beth- LOL! We don't usually have such colorful conversations. However, they do happen from time to time. I feel that if you approach a topic (or in this case body part) with normalcy ... it helps them to talk about things a little easier if they have a question or issue. I was brought up that way. My husband and I are very open and are raising our children that way. God gave us these parts and it's nothing to be ashamed of. I'm so glad you are following. I'm following you as well! :o) Love your blog!

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