For the Parents - Anatomical Terminology

SwannySez
SwannySez Posts: 5,860 Member
in Chit-Chat
This was prompted by the Sleeping Naked thread and the concerns some there had for their children seeing them naked.

I'm naked all the time in my house. I sleep naked. Sometimes I get up and stumble to the kitchen and make coffee naked. I wander around looking for clothes naked. Sometimes after working out in the bsement I wil strip off my clothes and dump them right into the washer and come upstairs naked. My wife is kinda the same way. It's our house and we have seen each other naked before.

I have a three and a half year-old daughter who is my pride and joy. Early on in her life we discussed how we were going to talk to her and the kinds of words we would use. Having both been brought up with laughably euphemistic terms for everything from genetalia to bowel movements and seen how ridiculous they seemed later in life, we chose to use the anatomically correct words for the anatomy and body functions as much as possible. Since my wife is Korean, some of those terms are in her native tongue, so they are - to non-Korean speakers - a kind of euphemism. But for the most part, we stick to proper names for things.

Granted this has led to some interesting public instances of graphic discussions of body functions and body parts, but I'd rather have that than for her to grow up calling something by a ridiculous name just to avoid saying a word that might make some prudish folks uncomfortable.

How do other parents feel about stuff like this?
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Replies

  • JaySpice
    JaySpice Posts: 326 Member
    I walk around naked sometimes (and get the occasional EWWWWWW) but I have a daughter. I probably wouldn't if I had a son. But I have a gf who walks around in her pannie drawls around her sons. *shrugs shoulders*
  • _Elemenopee_
    _Elemenopee_ Posts: 2,665 Member
    I shouldn't have read this...please get the image of you walking around nekkid...OUT OF MY HEAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  • rossi02
    rossi02 Posts: 549 Member
    In our house, we tend to use the word privates to discuss certain body parts. I don't want my kids to use comical names for their genetalia.. but the thought of my 3 or 5 years old saying penis makes me cringe. As they get older, we will use the correct terms, but for now we address them as boy or girl privates.. and how no one is to touch them other than them or their parents when giving them a bath. Expect for the youngest who's still in diapers, so daycare can change his diaper.. but that's it!
  • CoryIda
    CoryIda Posts: 7,870 Member
    I call the anatomy what it is - penis and vagina - but once he was able to talk in complete sentences (probably around 1 1/2), I made sure he never saw me nude.

    I had to explain erections and semen to him recently (he's 9 1/2) and it was pretty awkward, but necessary.

    Ah, the joys of being a mom without a man to explain those things.
  • SarahMorganP
    SarahMorganP Posts: 921 Member
    Nobody sees me naked...even my husband. Yuck! This is too scary to be seen. That being said, we have always used the correct words for body parts.
  • k2quiere
    k2quiere Posts: 4,151 Member
    I walk around naked (or half naked) regularly, especially in the morning. My girls, however, are quite accustomed to it. I keep a robe on the back of my door just in case someone randomly shows up, but I also don't have a curtain on the front door I have to walk past when I walk out of the bedroom, so go figure.

    In terms of terminology, I used the appropriate terms while they were growing up, especially after I realized my girls were learning the "baby" terms from others. I almost pissed myself laughing when my daughter came home from a friend's house and said "mommy, (so and so) fell and hurt her cookie cutter." It was so difficult not to turn to my then 5 year old and say "honey, what in the hell kinds of cookies would she be cutting with that thing?"
  • ScatteredThoughts
    ScatteredThoughts Posts: 3,562 Member
    My wife and I use the proper terms for body parts around our boys, who are 9 & 13. When they were much younger we may have used a euphemism here and there. We let them know there are appropriate places for discussing such things (this does not always work, as I found out when my youngest repeated an impromptu joke by me in front of his cub scout troop. :P ). They still pick some slang from their school friends, but nothing too outrageous so far.
  • PlunderBunneh
    PlunderBunneh Posts: 1,705 Member
    My husband is the opposite of you, he won't leave the room without a robe on. I'm not as uptight, but I have daughters(4.5 and 2.5), so nothing new to explain.
    I know it's silly, but I tend to use less proper words, like va-jay-jay, girly bits, or man-parts in conversation. If we are having a serious talk about it, we use the proper words, but the girls are little still and I'm just more comfortable using silly words. *shrug* each to their own.
  • 76tech
    76tech Posts: 1,455 Member
    kids don't see me naked.

    of course i use the correct terms. woo-woo, whisker biscuit, wookie, tallywhacker and tonker. :happy:

    actually i use the correct anatomical terms with the kids.
  • california_peach
    california_peach Posts: 1,809 Member
    We use the terms penis and vagina, I am firm believer in calling body parts by their proper names. As for nudity, I do dress and use the bathroom in front of my children. I will stop at the point that things seem to bother them or me.
  • Il_DaniD_lI
    Il_DaniD_lI Posts: 1,593 Member
    My 4 year old daughter sees me naked all the time but not her father. It's just natural for her and I but not with them & he is not comfortable with it either.

    We use the proper terms in our house. My daughter got in trouble for saying "vagina" at daycare and was sent to a time out. I was furious and spoke to her teacher who then saw my point of view and apologized to my daughter. I don't want her calling it a "peepee" or something stupid like that. Vagina, Penis, etc, are not bad words and I don't want her to grow up thinking they are.
  • Qarol
    Qarol Posts: 6,171 Member
    I was 5 and walked in on my dad once when he was naked in the bathroom. No, I didn't want to see him naked ever again. I learned how to knock after that.
  • spade117
    spade117 Posts: 2,466 Member
    Proper terms used here.

    No issues with nakedness either.
  • tig_ol_bitties
    tig_ol_bitties Posts: 561 Member
    My parents always used correct terms with us. I remember I got in trouble in the first grade for using the proper words in a safety class (there was a huge string of child abductions in my city, so they were bringing in police to talk to us). They talked to us about inappropriate touching, and I "corrected" my teacher when she called a vag a "kitty". My parents were furious that I got in trouble for that. I think it's damaging to lie to your children.
  • woodsygirl
    woodsygirl Posts: 354 Member
    Well, we were trying to use penis for my son but somehow we now say Ding-dong! lol

    My daughter says vulva.

    They are 3 and 6 and like to use those words all the time (sheesh...)
  • odusgolp
    odusgolp Posts: 10,477 Member
    I personally think nudity shouldn't be so taboo. Yes, my 5 year old son sees me naked. It doesn't even phase him. If I'm getting out of the shower and haven't yet put on a robe, he KNOWS he'll see me naked. He has that choice. He knows not to come in if he doesn't want to see my fat *kitten*. I do not, however, walk around the house naked. It's only when changing in my room, or out of the shower in the bathroom. That way, HE has a choice not to see it. He is starting to catch on to that and no longer barge in the bathroom with some toy I need to fix, but rather wait for me to come out with my robe on.

    And we call his a penis and mine dirt.
  • tigersword
    tigersword Posts: 8,059 Member
    Proper terms used here.

    No issues with nakedness either.
    ^ This. Never saw any reasons for all the weird, silly terminology, and I've never understood the whole "must always wear clothes" taboo.
  • EmCarroll1990
    EmCarroll1990 Posts: 2,832 Member
    I personally think nudity shouldn't be so taboo. Yes, my 5 year old son sees me naked. It doesn't even phase him. If I'm getting out of the shower and haven't yet put on a robe, he KNOWS he'll see me naked. He has that choice. He knows not to come in if he doesn't want to see my fat *kitten*. I do not, however, walk around the house naked. It's only when changing in my room, or out of the shower in the bathroom. That way, HE has a choice not to see it. He is starting to catch on to that and no longer barge in the bathroom with some toy I need to fix, but rather wait for me to come out with my robe on.

    And we call his a penis and mine dirt.

    Wait, you refer to your vag or penis as "dirt?"
  • GasMasterFlash
    GasMasterFlash Posts: 2,206 Member
    Wee-wees and hoo-hahs.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,993 Member
    We use tagalog to describe private parts. Lol, at least she's learning some of the language.


    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
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  • tinana_RN
    tinana_RN Posts: 541 Member
    Our kids know the proper terms for their parts. They're 4 and 2, both are boys. They still refer to what they have as pee-pee which is still miles better than some of the names I've heard.

    We do not walk around naked, though we do co-shower with them from time to time. It's a lot less time consuming.
  • bizgirl26
    bizgirl26 Posts: 1,795 Member
    I always called them by their proper names. I had no issues with it but it always amazed me how uncomfortable the words vagina and penis made people. As for being naked in front of them, I stopped in front of my son when he was around 3 or so because the questions and staring made me uncomfortable.
  • odusgolp
    odusgolp Posts: 10,477 Member
    I personally think nudity shouldn't be so taboo. Yes, my 5 year old son sees me naked. It doesn't even phase him. If I'm getting out of the shower and haven't yet put on a robe, he KNOWS he'll see me naked. He has that choice. He knows not to come in if he doesn't want to see my fat *kitten*. I do not, however, walk around the house naked. It's only when changing in my room, or out of the shower in the bathroom. That way, HE has a choice not to see it. He is starting to catch on to that and no longer barge in the bathroom with some toy I need to fix, but rather wait for me to come out with my robe on.

    And we call his a penis and mine dirt.

    Wait, you refer to your vag or penis as "dirt?"

    Maybe, maybe not...
  • tinana_RN
    tinana_RN Posts: 541 Member


    And we call his a penis and mine dirt.


    Erm.............. what? Dirt?
  • ThePhoenixRose
    ThePhoenixRose Posts: 1,978 Member
    My kids (boy & girl) are 4 and 5. We use Penis and Vagina. Though my daughter can't ever remember the word Vagina, so she ends up calling it a venus half the time, as it rhymes with penis! When I'm talking to both of them about their parts, i call it their "business." Not sure why... "No one can touch your business except the Dr, if Mommy or Daddy is there."

    As far as the naked thing, i was SHOCKED at how many people said they "can't" sleep naked since they have kids. Our kids have seen us both naked. We sleep naked, we walk to the bathroom naked, they know, they don't care. We also shower with our kids, though my husband doesn't with my daughter anymore, now that she's in school. cause the last thing we want is her to say something about showering with Daddy and having someone get the wrong idea. To us, it's no different than her and her brother bathing together. They'll continue to do that until either they're too big or one of them isn't comfortable with it. Right now, they get upset if they can't bathe together.

    My $.02
  • ElizabethRoad
    ElizabethRoad Posts: 5,138 Member
    Ahem, I believe the correct term is "gentleman vegetables".
  • bikermike5094
    bikermike5094 Posts: 1,752 Member
    I'll walk between the bathroom and bedroom in my tighty whities but thats about it. Dont my 13 year old son or 16 year old daughter seeing my junk..

    for terms

    its junk, the circus, bumpin uglies, try to keep it light and humorous.
  • vim_n_vigor
    vim_n_vigor Posts: 4,089 Member
    I have 2 sons. My oldest is almost 6. All of us have seen each other naked, it happens. My oldest is getting to the point that I don't feel it is appropriate for him to see me anymore, and we are teaching him more about privacy and what is appropriate to share within family and outside of the house. They know the proper names for some things and others have words that most other kids would probably be using commonly. Even though they know the proper names, they usually use the more common 'kid names'.
  • brentrhodes
    brentrhodes Posts: 139
    We let the kids call it what they call it, if it sounds ugly or offensive, we'll correct them.

    Nudity isn't an issue with us.
  • odusgolp
    odusgolp Posts: 10,477 Member
    DIRT: Ok, it's an inside family joke, we don't actually call it dirt *LOL*

    When a little boy we always used to babysit and have over all the time, he would always walk around saying "I've got a penis! Dad's got a penis! Mom's got DIRT!"

    It was hysterical.... Inside joke. Y'all can relax now. My vagina is not literally dirt. :bigsmile:

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