[angelamariebee]

We're a pretty open family about nudity, it's just me, my husband and almost three year old DD.

She's always naked because we're potty training and it's just easier. I've started wearing more clothes only because I weaned her a few months back and there was less temptation on her part. And DH is naked about 50% of the time when he's home.

I never thought this to be a problem and figured if she ever felt uncomfortable with it, we'd stop.

Well.. (this is kind of embarrassing, I hope I don't get flamed) one day DD accidentally fell on DH in bed and he said something to the effect of, "Ow, you elbowed my balls!" because he was hurt.

Now I can't get her to stop saying "balls". She'll say, "My vagina, Daddy's balls". It was funny at first, but it's really not appropriate. She's at that learning stage, always pointing out random body parts. I was fine teaching her "vagina" but it feels weird telling her "it's a penis" or whatever.

What do I do?? I have NO idea how to handle this!

 

[SaraLe6]

First off, I would recommend correcting the term "balls" to "testicles", because that is what they are. And I know it's embarassing to talk about (my 3.5 year old son asked me the other day what I pee with that isn't a penis.. ugh), but really they are just body parts. Our culture makes even just mentioning them taboo, but it's just another part of the body, and you're not afraid to tell her that daddy has an elbow or an earlobe, right? I think the way most of us were raised is almost like these body parts don't exist, they're dirty, talking about them in any way is sexual, etc, etc. but it's not like you're trying to illustrate exactly how babies are made... you're just naming another body part. Really.

 

[pixiekisses]

My kids has known what penis/vagina/testicles etc. is way before they where three years old.
Like PP said, it's just another body part, just like an arm or a nose, just name it, no big deal. She is so big, she needs to know.
(My kids have known exactly how babies are made and how they come out at that age too.)

 

[angelamariebee]

Thanks! I'm surprised at how unprepared I feel about this. I always told myself I would tell her the correct names, just like that, but when it came right down to it I second guessed myself.

 

[georgiegirl1974]

DD (3) noticed DH's penis a long time ago. She kind of pointed at it and laughed. I told her that was Daddy's penis. She then said she didn't have a penis. I said girls don't have penises, girls have vaginas. We haven't discussed testicles yet. We call her butt, her butty or her bottom.

For the longest time, she called her vagina/pubic area her butty (they do look similar.) I reminded her that the butty is in the back and the vagina is in the front. One day, DD and I were hanging out in the master bathroom while DH was getting ready to take a shower, and DD said, "I see daddy's vagina." (She saw his butt.) I almost died laughing.

She's also a little concerned because I told her baby brother will have a penis...LOL.

 

[Aufilia]

DD has had names for the body parts for probably a year but she STILL likes to remind us that "Daddy has a penis because he's a boy, you and I have yonis because we're girls." In fact I'm pretty sure that's an exact quote of what she said to me this morning while I was changing clothes.

 

[Flower of Bliss]

DD (2.5 yo) has been well versed in penises and vulvas for at least a year. She sees herself, me, DH, friends during diaper changes, friends playing in kiddie pools in the back yard, etc. Testicles haven't come up yet

My only "issue" with it is teaching her not to grab penises (daddy's as well as friends'). She's also quite fond of talking about "heinies" (sometimes I regret teaching her that word, though we also regularly use bottom and I regularly remind her of the term "anus").

 

[Breeder]

My son has been taught about male and female body parts since we started naming every other part of the body. But he would still sometimes wrinkle his nose and say, "So..... you don't have a penis?" until he was almost four. Lol.

 

[peaceful_mama]

DD announced the other day that she "doesn't have a penis on her butt"

it took me a bit to figure out WHAT she was saying.

apparently she was paying attention as her older brother (4) got his questions answered during their bathtime. (he switched to showers in the last couple weeks.)

I told her no, she doesn't, she has a vagina because she is a girl. Which led to "Oh, I have a 'gina?"
and that was it.

I agree, it's another body part, the best thing to do is to answer questions relating to it with real answers, just like you're not afraid to teach them they have eyes, noses, ears. etc

 

[MPsSweetie]

Just to make you feel better about what your dh said:

When DD was about 3.5 she was playing on the trampoline with dh, laying down, throwing a ball up and dh was catching it... well, one time it landed on him and he turned on his side and said "awww, my nuggets" (which he has NEVER said before, he was just in pain). DD thought that was hilarious and talked about it for weeks,

 

[Bald_Bull's_Mama]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MPsSweetie "awww, my nuggets"

That is hilarious! It makes me want to start calling them nuggets. Too, too funny!

 

[philomom]

Please use the word vulva. It is more accurate.

The vagina is the inside part. No one sees or touches that until much, much later.

 

[meemee]

awww dont worry. just like swearing this is something they get into for a bit. its new. when the newness fades away their fascination with it fades too.

nothing you wrote about is 'flamable' imho.

my dd is 6 1/2 years old and people are shocked when i tell her to be careful roughousing with my males friends. 'be careful around his penis. dont hurt him there.'

 

[averlee]

Quote:

Originally Posted by philomom Please use the word vulva. It is more accurate. The vagina is the inside part. No one sees or touches that until much, much later.

Thank you so much for pointing that out. The vagina is the birth canal, not visible from the outside. Please, don't forget- the most important part is the clitoris, it's also the most visible. I never heard the word clitoris until l was a teenager. I also think very little girls should know about, and feel proud about, the uterus and ovaries already full of baby ova.

 

[AllisonR]

I think it's all fine. Cute even. My 2.5 yo DD occasionally mixes he and she. If I correct her, by saying "so-and-so is a gilr/boy," then she then clarifies it, out loud, with "Oh, you have a vulva, just like me!" or "you have a penis, just like DS and daddy."

 

[EdnaMarie]

Quote:

the most important part is the clitoris, it's also the most visible

Not my clitoris. You can see my vulva and labia, and the hood, but not the clitoris proper. And frankly, if I HAD to choose, not that I'd want to, whether to never come again, or never to PEE again, I'd choose my urethra over my clitoris ANY DAY. Just sayin'.

I do think that the bigger deal you make of the words, whichever you choose to use, the more she will be tempted to use them for shock value. I would correct her and explain the parts. Now would be a good time to just go for it. Aren't there kids' books on that? Penis, testicles, vulva, clitoris, urethra, vagina, buttocks (we say butt in our house, and bottom for the whole area). You could always use Wikipedia for pictures!

 

[angelamariebee]

I am very aware of the proper terms, I'm sure I'll get to them when she's a little older. She was a bit of a late talker and only started asking questions within the last few months, so that's why none of this had come up earlier.

 

[JBaxter]

I think all kids go through that. I have 4 boys and my ds3 DELIGHTED (for a while) telling everyone I had a "volvo"

Good thing I WAS driving a volvo xc90 at the time!

 

[redpajama]

My 2-year-old (daughter) talks about penises rather a lot (or so it seems), and I guess I'm just not uncomfortable with it. She has an older (4-year-old) brother and, while we don't really walk around naked at our house, we don't think anything of changing/bathing/whatever in front of the kids (okay, not *whatever* in front of the kids...

). Anyway, I agree with the PP who said you might want to correct her language from "balls" to "testicles"--although that's really a personal choice, and if you prefer for her to use a slang word, that's your prerogative, I think.

I just wouldn't make a big deal about it or it might *become* an issue (of her talking about it all the time, or whatever).

By the way, for some reason, my daughter picked up calling her vulva her "body" for a while (I'm not sure how). Whenever she would say something about her "body," I would look puzzled for a moment (sometimes it was genuine, mostly feigned) and then say, "Oh--your vulva?" And she'd say, "Yeah, my vulva." I haven't heard her call it her "body" in a while.

 

[bluey]

My oldest dd took to calling her vulva her body too, not sure why. She knew the proper names. Fortunately, the two olders are out of the yelling out of body parts phase, leaving me with just one who shouts out "BULBA" at random times while pointing assertively.

Still nothing so far has been more amusing to me then overhearing the middle dd reading out loud to her little sister from her body/baby book we had from the library and commenting on things like "wow! Look at all the different styles of penises a boy can have" while viewing a page that has illustrations of a variety of them.

sigh.