They're both retractable!

[Claire and Boys]

So this afternoon my youngest son, aged 3.5 yo, proudly showed me that he can retract his foreskin. He then told his older brother, who said "I can do that too." I had no idea of this, DS1 is almost 6 and I assumed he was not retractable. Five minutes later I go into the kitchen and they're comparing penises, LOL.

Neither of us have ever attempted to retract them, so this is just what happens when you leave intact little boys alone to discover their own parts when they're ready

[Claire and Boys]

Huh, well I didn't post any identifying info, so not sure how they would find it and know it was anything to do with them. My name is extremely common after all.

And, I think it useful for other parents to know what age it happened and that we had not helped it along in anyway. I see so many posts on here worrying about their child not retracting at age 2, sometimes even younger.

[RiverSky]

Originally Posted by Claire and Boys

Huh, well I didn't post any identifying info, so not sure how they would find it and know it was anything to do with them. My name is extremely common after all.

And, I think it useful for other parents to know what age it happened and that we had not helped it along in anyway. I see so many posts on here worrying about their child not retracting at age 2, sometimes even younger.

I agree. I think this was a very useful post and reassuring to so many, I am sure.

My intact 11 year old son allegedly does not retract yet either, which is completely natural and normal for any time up until 16 or 18, too.

[brant31]

There's a certain anonymity to posting here, and it's not like 10 or 15 years from now our kids will go looking for old internet threads that we may or may not have posted in. At the same time, it's not so anonymous here that it's not a friendly community.

However, from a collective and sociologic/anthropologic standpoint, datapoints (anecdotes) like this are invaluable, not to mention funny and adorable. What other way do parents have of discerning whether their kids, and their development, are normal? If you read the threads, there is still considerable anxiety about precisely this issue -- age of retraction, premature retraction, who is doing the retraction, when/whether a parent should see their child's glans, etc, etc -- with its root in people not talking about it or offering personal vignettes.

If you think about it, and don't try to sexualize the description in an adult context, such an occurrence is really no more remarkable or controversial than kids discovering and comparing who has an "innie" and who has an "outie" navel. I'd say it was appropriate and even constructive for this forum.

[Claire and Boys]

Thank you. I was kind of confused why anyone would not think a post about normal development would not be appropriate for this forum *shrug*

And well, it's been said recently that the forum tends to become full of post about problems with intact penises, so I thought a post about them doing what they're supposed to with no medical intervention would be nice.

[MCatLvrMom2A&X]

Very cute story thanks for posting.

[musicteachermom]

Thank you for the post Claire! It was funny and insightful and interesting to know what may be in store in my future since I am raising an intact boy. So many moms I know are not raising intact boys, so it's hard to know what other people experience. Thanks for sharing!

[QueenOfTheMeadow]

I have removed a few posts from this thread for being UAVs or quoting UAVs.
Per the UA:

Do not post in a disrespectful, defamatory, adversarial, baiting, harassing, offensive, insultingly sarcastic or otherwise improper manner, toward a member or other individual, including casting of suspicion upon a person, invasion of privacy, humiliation, demeaning criticism, name-calling, personal attack or in any way which violates the law.

[fruitful womb]

Very cool!

Case in point, every child develops differently.