Sunday, March 28, 2010

That's it???

Nora came home from school the other day and asked me how the dentist knew she was a girl. I was a little confused; it had been a few weeks since the dental hygienist had visited their school, and I really couldn't figure out what her teeth had to do with being a girl. I asked her a few questions, and determined what she was really asking is how, when she was born, did the doctor know that she was a girl. Ahhh...well that's a different question all together.

I think its really important to be honest about these questions with our children, no matter what the age. Of course its also really important to be age appropriate...which is really hard to do with Nora because she's so darn smart and sometimes I forget she's only five. Anyways, I responded with, "The doctor told us you were a girl because you have the body of a girl". Nice, to the point, answers the query.

"But Mom", she retorted," what's a body of a girl? What does that mean?". Oh dear.

"Boys and girls have different body parts Nora. You have the parts that make up a girl". Smooth.

"What parts? Mom, I don't get it." Crap. Time for the big guns.

"Well Nora, boys have a penis and girls have a vagina." Oh my God I just said penis to a five-year old girl.

"Penis????? Gaina??? WHAT is a penis???? What's a Gaina????" What have I done?

(Deep breath) "Ummm...well, when girls and boys go pee pee they have different parts. The boy's part is called a penis. The girl has a vagina". Well that's not a very good description Ivy! That is not really how girls go.

"That's it? I know THAT. Girls have a flat butt in the front, and boys have a funny belly button thingy when they pee. "

Well, good to see I'm not needed around here! And BTW, thanks Jett at school for forgetting to close the door when you go to the bathroom. You made that conversation a whole lot shorter and easier than I imagined!


2 comments:

  1. LOVE IT! I am fearing the conversation with my nine year old I will be having in the next year or so. I don't know why, I think it is because they are no longer innocent and have to know all the "yucky" stuff. Good for you for being so open with her about it. Much better than I would have done. So far the "well God made us all different so we can tell each other apart" speech.
    melissa

    ReplyDelete
  2. Good luck...there's a big difference between explaining the name of the parts and what the parts do! Yikes. Nine is getting so close to those awkward teen years. But you'll get through it, everyone does. And as embarrassing as it is, its so much better to hear it from mom and dad rather than on the school bus or in the locker room.

    ReplyDelete