Back to last nights bath. Since Thing One has been potty trained he has this quirk that he pulls at his private part all the time. I've read this is pretty normal, for me it's mostly the fact that he yanks it so hard he may hurt himself one day. So as I have always done I gently remind him that he does not need to touch it unless he is going to the bathroom. So there was Thing Two yanking at himself. I finally had to say "Thing One, stop pulling at your penis!". Thing Two is in the repeat stage and follows her brother Thing One's every movement, so you can imagine what came next. Thing Two points to her private parts and says "PENIS!". My thought was, ok we haven't told her the name of her part. I told her "No Thing Two, you have a vagina". What ensued next brought me to tears. Thing One looks at himself and says " I have a GINA too! See!" (points to private part) I wanted to laugh so hard, but I kept it together. Then I repeated to Thing One that he had a penis. Thing One in his loudest 3 year old voice says "NO! They match mommy!" Well I almost was crying from the laughter.
So there I am, wanting to share this with someone and so I text message Big Cheese to let him know what had happened. I don't know if he was a little perplexed and maybe even a little disturbed by the fact that this had occurred. He just was confused. What do we do? Should we have them bathe together? I guess at that moment I realized that we had different parenting styles. I'm all about being open with my children, letting them ask questions and having the accurate information for them. That is why I refuse to have Thing One call his private parts "wee wee" or his "pee pee". He knows he has a penis and now he has a name for his sister's anatomy. I guess some people are still a little closed off and private when it comes to children learning the correct terms for their anatomy, and that's ok.
So am I going to separate them in the shower? I suppose eventually I will have to. For now I think it's pure and simply an observation for both of them and they are learning about the uniqueness in their own body. Others may have other opinions about what I do, but I see nothing wrong in what I am doing so far with them. So what did I say to Big Cheese? Well that's easy, the same thing I do with Thing One and Thing Two. I let him ask questions and I gave him accurate and concerete answers. Sometimes Adults need to be approached the same way as young children. ;)
