The other day my neighbor came over to give me some flowers from her garden...as I am talking to her, M is sitting behind me on the deck. I look back for a second at her, and she has both hands up her dress in her diaper. I was horrified, but a little relived when my neighbor said both he daughters used to do it too. She told me I just have to ignore it. So I have been trying to ignore it, but then she watched most of Toy Story 3 leaning against the couch with one hand down her pants.
It isn't all the time, but it is getting more and more frequent. I know she is just curious and just checking things out, which is totally cool with me, but when it happens in public I am totally embarrassed. Should I be doing something about it? And if yes, what?
And all of this exploring has lead me to another conundrum...what do we call her private parts? Seems like such a silly question to be posing, but I am curious as to what everyone is telling their kids to call their "parts"?
When I was little we had these horrific pig-Danish terms (as in my mom told me it was Danish, which is what my Grandmother is, but I later found out it was just made up words) for man and lady-lands. I absolutely refuse to use them with M, so I am trying to come up with new words...Hoo Ha? Pajengo? Kooka? Do I go with the technical va-jayjay?
What are your words for private parts??
I was told that is best to use the "real" terms. If, God forbid, they're ever in a situation in which they need to say where they were inappropriately touched, you want it to be clear what they're talking about.
ReplyDeleteI heard the same thing that Mama E said, but when the Duchess was born, she was so tiny and cute and the real names seemed so clinical. I just call them her "lady parts" and, when needed, I refer to her "pooper" (as in, "it's time to wipe your pooper"). It's clear what she's talking about should she need to inform me about something and there's no need to get into details with a toddler. When we see little boys, she calls them "Boy parts," and laughs (I told her not to do that, as they don't like it when you point and laugh at them!). And yes, she is interested in her lady parts too - the trick is to simulatenously make it seem like it's just another body part while explaining that it is a special body part. Don't add your own layer of knowledge onto what is essentially an innocent activity!
ReplyDeleteOne of my friends taught his kid the technical terms for the parts and then she went to daycare and told the teacher, "my daddy has a nice penis and my mommy has a good vagina". That was problematic.
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