My turn in the carpool schedule. Girl and Boy in the back seat, my first-grade daughter and her classmate who’s expecting a little sister any day now. Girl: “Daddy, how do they know whether it’s a boy or a girl before it’s born?” Me: [Tries to explain about ultrasound (as if I understood it) and how they can see a not-very-good picture of the baby, still in Mummy’s tummy.] [Silence] Girl: “But how do they know if it’s a boy or a girl?” Me: “Well, they look to see if it has a penis!” [Longer silence.] Boy: “Did you know that when a baby’s born, it’s naked?” [Still longer silence.] Girl: “Daddy, please don’t talk about gross stuff like that.”
Contributions
Comment feed for ongoing:
From: Anonymous Coward (not The Anonymous Coward) (Mar 12 2013, at 06:17)
As a father of a 3-year-old daughter, may I ask: at which point did your girl start to see the normal anatomical differences as "gross stuff"? I know mine will do too, just wondering when to expect it.
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From: Seairth Jacobs (Mar 12 2013, at 09:42)
It's always when you least expect it!
On a more serious note, might I suggest "It's Not the Stork" by Robbie Harris. My experience with two daughters is that it's very accessible to all age groups (i.e. they understand that they need to understand and skip over the rest until they are ready).
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From: Leonardo Herrera (Mar 12 2013, at 10:26)
That's so cute it hurts.
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From: Seairth Jacobs (Mar 12 2013, at 15:48)
Actually, this isn't a comment, but a correction. My prior post should have said "they understand WHAT they need to", not "they understand THAT they need to". Would you be so kind as to correct that?
Thanks.
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From: David Taylor (Mar 20 2013, at 15:57)
How did it become "gross"?
Who taught her that?
The human body should never be viewed as gross.
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