Birds & Bees books for preschoolers

[HappyMommy2]

Help me mamas!  Any book recommendations for pre-school birds&bees?  Or an online anatomy diagram?

dd is 3.5, ds is 5.5. 

We are getting more and more questions about where babies/puppies come from and how they get there.

---

edited for unwittingly stepping in dog poo,

... or shall I say Canine Feces, in order to be more ANALLY CORRECT???

Edited by HappyMommy2 - 6/13/11 at 5:21am

[eclipse]

The "It's Not the Stork" series is one my kids love. Both "It's Not The Stork" and "It's So Amazing!" would probably be appropriate for your girl's ages.


http://www.amazon.com/Its-Not-Stork-Families-Friends/dp/0763600474
http://www.amazon.com/Its-So-Amazing-Families-Library/dp/0763613215/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_b

[Llyra]

My four year old DD is obsessed right now with learning the names of all her parts, and asks a thousand questions about their functions, and now she wants to learn about DS's, too. A book would be a great thing. The other day I was tangled in a discussion of what the proper name was for this one specific section of her groin, just outside the outer labia. She INSISTED it had to have its own name, I was pretty sure it didn't have a special name-- not that ONE LITTLE SPOT-- and she was furious with me. An outside authority would be helpful.

With the clitoris? With my DDs, they asked what it was for, and I told them the truth-- it feels good to touch it. They touched it, experimentally, agreed with me that it was true, and then went on their way.

[HappyMommy2]

Originally Posted by Llyra 



With the clitoris? With my DDs, they asked what it was for, and I told them the truth-- it feels good to touch it. They touched it, experimentally, agreed with me that it was true, and then went on their way.

You are braver than me, mama!  I couldn't think of a way to say it so matter-of-factly like you did!

[Louise Waugh]

The clitoris is NOT part of the vagina.  I know that my DD14 and her friends use "vagina" to refer to any part of a woman between the naval and the knees, but if you are going to use "correct" terms they may as well be used correctly.

[chattyprincess]

Well, I just thought I would throw out there what a great job you are doing. Telling your children what thier "private" parts are when they ask and telling them honestly and respectfully is the first way to estibalishing a good base for having a conversation about sex and her body that will last for the rest of her life. There really should not just be one "talk" to our kids about sex, they should feel just as comfortable at 14 talking about thier privates with us as they do at this age!

And yes while the vagina is just a really just a name of part of our private area, it really is the most common way that most women refer to the area between thier legs.

[meaganday]

Your honesty is perfect! I haven't had to cross these question bridges with my 15 month old yet, but DH and I have already covered the "what do you call it?" bases and agree that cutesy names don't really have a place in our house. Simple and clear. Love it!

[velochic]

I read this before and didn't take the time to point out what our new (Welcome to MDC) member Louise pointed out.   I think correctly identifying anatomy is important.  Perhaps you didn't know yourself that the clitoris is an organ separate from the vagina, but it's good to be ready when the questions come.  I have a 9 yo and, while most of our conversations were casual, there have been a couple of times I've had to say things like, "Hey, I'm not sure exactly about XYZ" or "There are a lot of reasons women ABC, let's find out why together".  A good book for you to take your cues from might be "The Care and Keeping of You".

[Cyllya]

Ah, yes, it is a strangely little-known fact that the outer female genitalia is called the vulva. The vagina is the inside part.

(The clitoris is considered part of the vulva, right? )

[philomom]

Originally Posted by Cyllya 

Ah, yes, it is a strangely little-known fact that the outer female genitalia is called the vulva. The vagina is the inside part.

(The clitoris is considered part of the vulva, right? )

Its not little known. I use the correct terminology with my kids. I don't know how this fad of calling everything a vagina down there got started. No one sees your vagina except your lover or midwife. The part you may glimpse or see while changing or bathing is the vulva or labia. And yes, the happy button of clitoris is on the vulva... not inside the vagina.

[One_Girl]

Originally Posted by philomom 

Originally Posted by Cyllya 

Ah, yes, it is a strangely little-known fact that the outer female genitalia is called the vulva. The vagina is the inside part.

(The clitoris is considered part of the vulva, right? )

Its not little known. I use the correct terminology with my kids. I don't know how this fad of calling everything a vagina down there got started. No one sees your vagina except your lover or midwife. The part you may glimpse or see while changing or bathing is the vulva or labia. And yes, the happy button of clitoris is on the vulva... not inside the vagina.

I use the correct terminology with my dd also, but it does seem to be little known around here.  My mother had no idea until she had me and I have had friends who have had no idea despite having children.  Our daycare actually has a policy about calling the vulva the vagina and when I pointed out that this is not technically accurate my supervisor said she had never heard that before (she is in her forties and we have many doctor's and nurse's children in our center).  It was very surprising to me the first time I found out someone hadn't even heard the word vulva despite being an adult with a child.

[Chamomile Girl]

Oh good lord are we all going to have this discussion again? People have called their girlie parts vaginas for a very long time. It is not some newfangled trend. It is not that big of a deal except for the fact that some of you find it annoying. Honestly, who made y'all the coochie police?

I call it a vagina and will continue to do so until the day I die thankyouverymuch. I'm ok with that.

[waiting2bemommy]

Another one who says "vagina." I was raised calling it that nad it's what seems normal to me even though I know it's not technically accurate. But unlike how I was raised I have open discussions with ds about babies and body parts. it's only a big deal if you make it one and I hope when dd gets old enough to gt her period she will feel comfortable telling me and won't hide it and get supplies from the school nurse for months, like I did. It's not so much what you call it, as long as you can talk about it!

[One_Girl]

Originally Posted by Chamomile Girl 

Oh good lord are we all going to have this discussion again? People have called their girlie parts vaginas for a very long time. It is not some newfangled trend. It is not that big of a deal except for the fact that some of you find it annoying. Honestly, who made y'all the coochie police?

I call it a vagina and will continue to do so until the day I die thankyouverymuch. I'm ok with that.

I don't think discussing something makes it an issue that anyone is policing.  I am guessing you feel a lot of pressure from other people to conform since you read so much animosity into comments made online where nobody has made a judgment about what term you are supposed to use.  I find the discussion interesting but that is probably because I can't remember the last time it was brought up so I am not burnt out on the subject. 

[MamitaM]

I also grew up calling it a vagina. I don't even know if the school nurse used the word vulva, but I'm sure she must have. I'm just so sick of the vagina vs vulva argument. I remember a post where someone said something about "wiping your vagina" and another person said "eww gross you don't wipe your vagina, you wipe your vulva." I know they are different parts, but they are so close that it's ok to call the whole thing a vagina if you want to and not get pissy when some call it that while you use the term vulva.

[katelove]

Originally Posted by Chamomile Girl 

 It is not that big of a deal 

Except that it's inaccurate. Do you refer to the limb which extends from shoulder to wrist your elbow? Same thing.

[Chamomile Girl]

Originally Posted by katelove 

Except that it's inaccurate. Do you refer to the limb which extends from shoulder to wrist your elbow? Same thing.

Except it is common usage. Language is malleable.

LOL as my husband just pointed out it is like referring to the lower part of someone's torso as their stomach, when actually the stomach is closer to the bottom of the ribcage. Stomach for the area around the bellybutton is common usage and should be respected as such. Same as vagina...to correct people is presumptuous.

[philomom]

Originally Posted by Chamomile Girl 

Originally Posted by katelove 

Except that it's inaccurate. Do you refer to the limb which extends from shoulder to wrist your elbow? Same thing.

Except it is common usage. Language is malleable.

LOL as my husband just pointed out it is like referring to the lower part of someone's torso as their stomach, when actually the stomach is closer to the bottom of the ribcage. Stomach for the area around the bellybutton is common usage and should be respected as such. Same as vagina...to correct people is presumptuous.

It won't be common usage if we all teach our daughters and sons the correct word!

To me when some say vagina and they mean vulva... its like saying the whole thing is a hole. Your power bundle has different parts.... they all have names.

Not to mention the misunderstandings that can occur when a small girl child says vagina to mean vulva or labia.

[MamitaM]

You know I think I'm just going to call mine my "power bundle" from now on

[philomom]

Originally Posted by MamitaM 

You know I think I'm just going to call mine my "power bundle" from now on

I read that somewhere in a book about empowering girls. Do you like it?