The differences between boys and girls

Nicki is slowly but surely starting to realize that there are differences between boys and girls. For the most part we have done our best not to let silly widespread stereotypes, like boys shouldn't wear pink or girls shouldn't play with trucks, become a part of her mindset. But there's just no arguing with the physical differences that she is now beginning to notice!

A week or two ago we were in the entry getting ready to go for a walk when she asked me "Why is Gabe a boy?" Dancing around the obvious answer, I replied "He was born that way, just like you and I were born girls." This was of course not good enough (hey I can dream can't I?) and so she repeated "Yeah, but why is he a boy?" I attempted to skirt the issue again saying "Everyone is different. Some people are girls and some people are boys and both are just as good." Getting frustrated now, almost as if she knew the answer she was waiting for, she once again asked "But WHY is he a boy?" Finally I could avoid it no longer and answered "Because he has a penis", bracing myself for the barrage of questions to follow. But none came. Nicki simply had a pensive look on her face, like she was evaluating the validity of my answer, and then just continued to put on her boots, dropping the subject completely.

The following day after bath time, Nicki was sitting beside me wrapped up in her towel as I dried Gabe off. Whenever I wash them, I always name all of their body parts, so Nicki is familiar with both the terms penis and scrotum. As I was drying that area on Gabe, Nicki pointed in the general direction of his thigh and asked "Is that his scrotum?" So I matter of factly showed her exactly what was what, hoping that she wasn't too young to be told this kind of thing. Satisfied with my answer, the subject was once again dropped.

A few days later, we were once again in the entry getting our jackets on when Gabe wandered over. Nicki exclaimed in an enthusiastic voice "Hey Penis Guy!" I was so taken aback by it that I had to bite my tongue so as not to laugh out loud! Instead I said "Have you ever heard anyone say that before?" hoping that she hadn't picked it up at school. She said no. So I asked her "Why would you call him that then?" and she replied "Because he has one!" I couldn't exactly argue with that logic and was still so surprised that I couldn't get out more than an "Oh, ok." I didn't want to say anything that would make her think badly about our so-called private parts.

In retrospect I should have told her that it's impolite to call people by their body parts regardless of whether or not they have one, sort of like I don't go around calling her "Nose Girl" or Gabe "Elbow Boy". But that bit of sound parenting completely escaped me in the moment. I'll have to keep it in my back pocket for another day, as there surely will be a next time. In the meantime I guess I'll just have to cross my fingers and hope that she doesn't yell out "Hey Scrotum Boy!" to Gabe when we go pick her up at school one day. Oh the looks I would get for that one, I'm sure! :)