The second in a continuing series of potentially awkward anatomical conversations while driving.
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She was about five when my cut-and-dried eldest asked, “Mom, whose body has more parts, boys or girls?”
As usual, I wondered just where this was going. She could easily be wondering about ponytails and accessory nipples, right? Or, she could be talking about who wears more jewelry or generally has more piercings? Fingers crossed…”What do you mean?” I asked.
“You know, you have a nose, two eyes, two ears…parts,” she replied, verbally rolling her eyes. I took a quick glance in the rear view mirror and confirmed that the eye-roll was more than just verbal.
“Oh, are you wondering about potty parts?” I asked, once again chastising myself for adopting this non-progressive naming convention. She nodded, giving me a look usually seen when I attempted to explain something painfully obvious to Jimmy. I needed to adjust that rear view mirror. “OK, how about I get a book that has drawings of all of the body parts, boys and girls, with labels and diagrams?” I asked.
My practical, level-headed eldest replied, “Oh, yes, that would be very helpful. Thank you,” and returned to her drawing. Lucky for me, such a nicely line-drawn book of Just The Facts does in fact exist and was quickly reserved at the library. A couple of days later, attempting to sensitively and privately go through said book, she caught sight of her 3 year old sister down the hall. Despite my admonitions to keep this “just between us,” the book was clearly too good not to share. “Hey, get in here! You love this kind of stuff!” she hollered.
So, yeah, we own our own copy now.
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