My boy has developed a thing for ice packs now. Could it be that it has Lightning McQueen on it? Not sure but every minor ache or pain requires a thirty second cold McQueen compress and a kiss to make it all better.
Last night it was his leg. When I gave him a kiss on the cheek, he wisely replied, ‘that no make my leg feel better mommy. Kiss my leg.’ All right smarty whatever you say.
Well this morning….I wasn’t getting out of it so easy. The convo went a little something like this.
‘Mommy, my penis hurts.’ (I had just rapidly put on a diaper with him standing and me facing the back…apparently not in a comfy position).
‘Oh I’m sure it’s fine dude. Just eat your breakfast.’ and I gave him a kiss…
‘Mommy, a kiss on my cheek no make my penis feel better. You need to kiss my penis.’
‘Ooooh buddy. I don’t think so. How about an ice pack.’
I thought this was a wise cut off of the situation until he tried to pull his pants down to apply the pack to the package.
This did lead me into the ‘privates’ discussion though. You know – ‘privates are for you and only you – unless Mommy is giving you a bath or cleaning you up.’ Which led my smart boy to rhyme off who actually has access to his privates – auntie, grandma, teachers, babysitter. I opted to let childhood reign on this and not take it very seriously. I just added in that no one should be kissing down there and that if he was sore, he just needed to give it a rub. NOOOOOOOO – ugh.
I decided to quit while I was ahead. I just gave him another ice pack.
How do you handle the whole privates discussion?
**and yes this will be one that I likely DON’T save for him.**
my 2 year old daughter asked me if i had an accident in my pull up when she saw me change a pad. i almost died laughing
perfectly handled
yikes
there is no dress rehearsal for the parenting show
ya…I’ve gotten the “Why are you putting a big bandaid in your underwear?”
PRIVACY PEOPLE. privacy…
Eva asked why her penis was a crack…only from a girl with 2 big brothers right?
I’m all for telling them about stuff at a level they can comprehend.
Private is an important one, and it sounds like you’ve had that talk before, if he’s rhyming it off like that!
And yes, we’ve had that tampon discussion, too, Tracy!
erin, i guess i should say, they didn’t “pull it” (i’m in toronto) but they were going to introduce it here and decided “THAT’S PRIVATE” as the uproar from the vocal minority thought it was a bad idea.
http://www.thestar.com/ParentCentral/Education/Schools%20and%20resources/article/799313
Oh my god, that’s hilarious! I handled this issue with my own kids the same way. They ask, I answer, and then hope I did a decent job of it. My daughter first asked about her vulva when she was about 18 months old. She had a diaper rash and was very disappointed that she couldn’t have a kiss better – until I explained about how it’s private. Then of course, she had to tell everyone she met that she has a VULVA and it’s PRIVATE. (sigh). The worst, though? When she was about 20 months old, we were waiting at the bus stop near a bicycle shop. She looked at the guy waiting at the same time as we were (a big hairy biker-looking dude), and told him she could tell him how to ride that unicycle in the window. He said something sweet like, “Oh, please do?” And she said, very seriously, “You put your vulva on the stick, and go!” Yes, she spoke very well, very early. It was great! Mostly.
Sounds like you handled it well. Stick to the facts in small bits as Tracey & Jen said. He’ll figure out the rubbing all on his own. 🙂
Julie, where do you live? I’m curious about which gov’t pulled sex ed out of schools.
i found a book at goodwill by dr. ruth westheimer. i’ll whip that puppy out when i need it! i was so disappointed when the gov’t pulled the sex ed topic out of schools…i mean, i didn’t teach my oldest how to tie her shoes until she was 8 for pete’s sake! what am i supposed to do about boobs???
I am very open with my kids. I think you did a really good job because being age appropriate while still stating the facts is critical. Things are getting tough for me now. My tween can ask some pretty cringe-worthy questions!
Oh mah lord, woman… I am KILLING myself with laughter right now!!
Man. The questions come at the most random times… I always aim for the truth of the matter, in sound-bites that are digestible for their ages. It’s tricky. I say a little bit, and then let them ask more questions, if they have any.
I left an unwrapped tampon on the edge of the sink recently, which sparked all kinds of questions from them both… maybe we just need another bathroom. 😉