Tuesday, January 27, 2009

potty words

we use the correct words for all body parts. i remember reading somewhere that you should always call everything by what it is, that way if something ever gets hurt or happens and you're not with your child, there's no confusion as to what part has fallen victim. got it?
ok, so molly has a new found fascination with the word 'penis'. not an unfamiliar word. we have 2 in our house. however, colby (and daddy for the most part) know that this word is reserved for the bathroom unless theres a legitimate reason to use it otherwise. colby went through a period a while back where he would just stand in the bathroom and yell "PENIS!!" at the top of his lungs because its ok to say it in there.
moving on. i don't know if its because she doesnt have one or what, but she's really interested in this particular appendage. and because she knows shes not allowed to talk about it, she inconspicuously slides it into conversations in place of other words, i guess thinking we wont notice. like last night she was looking for her mitten. she had one mitten on, but couldn't find the other one. however instead of saying 'where's my mitten?', she was saying "where's my penis?" this has happened with her dolls as well as other various things. we re-explained that that word is reserved for the bathroom, and quite frankly, she has no reason to be saying it at all seeing as how she doesnt have one!
has anyone else experienced this with their daughter? should i be worried?

6 comments:

Sara@iSass said...

We are the opposite. I have an older daughter and younger son. So he says things like "Did you clean your vulva?" Because it is a frequently asked question. Butter started showering on her own and needs reminding...since she bosses Roo all the time he takes HIS turn to boss HER. Thank goodness we don't get out much!

Dawn said...

Nope... don't worry. It's probably more because she's figured out it's a "forbidden" word and it gets a rise out of her mommy. At least in your home, I'd "ignore" her when she's using it inappropriately - especially if she's looking for something or asking for something. Or, if it's more appropriate, just repeat what ever she's saying (calmly) with the correct word in place. (As if you were just confirming what she's saying - not necessarily correcting her.)

Be prepared as she gets slightly older for her to also try to "catch a peek" at parts that she doesn't have.

Curiosity is normal and we found that being very neutral about the whole "pieces parts" stuff worked best for us.

Remind me to tell you a cute story sometime. Not appropriate for this forum!

Blessings!

sara said...

I agree with Dawn. Very normal. It might also be a way to try out her own independence a bit and figure out where the boundaries are.

Anonymous said...

Our daughter has been doing the same thing lately... She has even pointed to a man in the store and said "He has a penis!" (loud too, might I add)I've just sat her down and explained to her that we only say penis when we are changing brother's diaper, not in the store! So, hopefully we won't have anymore incidents like that again.

Fincher said...
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Mom said...

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