the penis question (1)
March 22nd, 2007
Most of the last 12 years or so, I’ve been okay with being a single mother to two girls. I’ve managed to feed them and raise them well (the jury is still out on this). But once in a while, I am reminded that I’m alone in this whole journey. And sometimes, I do wish there was someone else I could refer to and say, ‘ask him.’
When my youngest was 3 years old, she flipped through the pages of an Avon catalogue. In her very cute soft voice, she asked me, ‘mom, what is that?’, pointing to a picture of a man in his underwear. And given that she is my daughter, she was pointing at the man’s crotch. Literally, my heart was pounding and my brain was racing 350 kph! ‘How do I respond?’, ‘What do I tell her?’, I thought to myself. Trust me, I considered referring to IT as ‘the birdie’.
But hang on. it’s not a bird. If I tell her that, more questions I cannot answer will come up! Okay, my brain was still running at 350 kph but everything else outside my head is in normal, or maybe slo-mo, pace. I decided to be honest and truthful.
I said, ‘That’s a penis, honey.’
She asked, ‘Mom, what’s a penis?’ (Oh boy. Here come the other questions.)
I said, ‘A penis is what boys have.’ (I’m sorry. I didn’t know what else to say.) I added, “It’s where their pee comes out of.’ (Oh goodness. I’m a complete moron.)
She asked again, ‘What’s mine called?’
I replied, ‘A vagina.’
And that was the end of that.
Three days later, she came running home from her friend’s house, and at the top of her voice yelled out to me, ‘Mom! I saw Ian’s penis while her mom was giving him a bath!’
It was clearly not the end of that.
