Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Little Boys - part 3

Remember that Mother Goose rhyme about what little boys are made of?

What are little boys made of? What are little boys made of?
Snaps and snails, and puppy dogs' tails.
That's what little boys are made of.
What are little girls made of? What are little girls made of?
Sugar and spice, and all things nice,
That's what little girls are made of.
Well, I don't know about snails and tails, but I can tell you that little boys are all filled with giggles when it comes to toilet talk. We're at that stage with Devlin where the words "pee", "poo" and "bum" will invoke fits of convulsive laughter and silly grins. He's also learning about jokes and riddles. Yep, every joke is about something involving pee or poo or something coming out of a bum. I'm surrounded by pee and poo as is, with three kids and one in diapers, and I can tell you, it's no laughing matter on the best of days. But I get it, little boys (like big boys) have an inborn need to giggle at matters involving bodily functions.
It's just when the toilet/bathroom talk comes to the dinner table that I start to lose patience. We've tried to explain that such subjects are off-limits at the dinner table, and we're also trying to suggest generally, that such topics are distasteful. But in a 5 year old's mind - how can something sooo funny and gross and disgusting be off-limits? And so, I resign myself to hearing the laughing and seeing the goofy smiles when we hear the words pee and poo. Boy, can't wait to get to the next stage when he discovers the words for certain body parts on the female.
I'm looking forward to the girls getting to this stage. I'm sure the toilet talk will not make such an impression on them, but certainly there will be some giggling over something just as silly.

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