I am so excited that Jeremy, Natalia and I will be cruisin' in the Caribbean in October. This will be Natalia's first cruise and I can't wait for her to experience it all. Last night we were talking about the day camp where she will have all sorts of activities and meet new friends for the week. I was telling her that some of the other kids may even be from different countries. She is so excited! Me, too.
While watching Chelsea Lately last night the topic of Europeans and speedos came up. That is one of the most comical parts of hanging out by the pool on cruises - lots of puffy men in speedos. Then I started thinking of this from a 6 year old, only child stand point. Oh, Lord. There will be questions. I mean, I am a grown woman and look upon that with a puzzled, questioning look. I admit it - I am VERY American and don't get the speedo thing. EVER.
This had me thinking about the anatomy lessons we have given Natalia. A couple years ago Jeremy and I decided to open that bag of worms because 1. Natalia has two boy cousins who sometimes forget to close the bathroom door when peeing interrupts play time, 2. Uncle Jason pees in the yard during barbecues (at least he turns his back to the crowd), and 3. Natalia wanted to know why daddy all of a sudden needs privacy when he takes a shower. Now mind you, we are not a "naked family" and Jeremy is not a public pee-er. We don't wander the house in the buff while getting ready to go out, but for the sake of time when she was younger we would put her in the tub which is next to the glass shower and she would play and soak while we got showered and ready. It was great because we could get ready in relative peace while she was contained and entertained. Then she got older and more perceptive, so she has been kicked out of the bathroom while daddy gets ready.
One evening after her bath I asked her if she knew the difference between boys and girls. She very frankly said "yes, boys have short hair". I told her that while most of the time that is true, some boys have long hair too. She laughed and told me that was silly. So here it went: I told her that boys have a penis that sticks outside their body. She asked me why. No one tells you as a parent that your child will ask you questions that have no answer. God is my go-to "no-answer questions" standby. "That's just how God made them". Again, she told me that sounded silly and then asked me what it looks like. Jeremy was still in the room at this time, but left laughing when I told Natalia that it looks like a little hot dog (we are talking about children's anatomy). Then we talked about privacy, vaginas and hygiene. Being the ER nurse that I am I also made mention that like ears and noses, please don't put anything in there. I'm not sure that reasoning will fly when she goes away to college, but that's what I'm going with.
Thank goodness this conversation seemed to suffice; potty and bath time for the other gender is private; and thanks to kenpo, Natalia knows that a groin shot to a bad guy will bring him to his knees so she can run away to safety. We will all be laughing at "European Cruise Guy" in the speedo and I won't feel like I have to have the penis conversation in an embarrassed panic if Natalia loudly calls him out on his swimwear choice.
No comments:
Post a Comment