TMI

As a corollary to yesterday's post: Last night, Booper and I are doing the whole night-night snuggle routine.
He asks me, "When a lady has a baby in her tummy, how does it get out?" (There are several pregnant moms at his school, so this topic has been getting a lot of air time.)
I responded, "Ladies have a tunnel where the baby comes out."
Booper: "Is it your belly button?"
Me: "No. It's down lower, in the private area."
Booper: "Can I see yours?"
Me: "No. It's private."
Booper: "But I'm in your family!"
Me: "I know you are in my family. But there are some parts of a lady's body that are private, even if you're in the same family. "
Booper: "I want to see it."
Me: "You can't see it. But I will tell you about it. It's called a vag!na. And it's a tunnel that opens up so the baby can come out. Sometimes a lady has a doctor with her when the baby comes out, to help her, so that's why she goes to the hospital."

Christ, almighty. I can't believe I said the word "vag!na" to my kid. In fact, I can't believe I had this whole fucking conversation with Booper. Lately he is walking around the house with a stuffed penguin under his shirt, telling me that he is going to have a baby. Two nights ago, he fell asleep like that. Then this morning he had the penguin on the kitchen table and notified me that he had delivered my grand-penguin this morning. He hasn't picked a name yet.

Oh, and yesterday we were in a ladies room where they had a tampon/maxipad machine. Of course, he wanted to know all about it and what "those things" are used for. Fuck. I thought having boys was going to free me from these conversations.

Reveal Yourself?

Booper likes to play a little game at night after his bath. Once Daddy has toweled him off, he runs downstairs in the buff and jumps on the couch next to me, yelling "Here is your nude dude!" He is very sad if he doesn't get a chance to do this at night.

This morning, I was getting dressed for work and Booper was hanging out with me in my room. He is now 4 years old and in the throes of ,what I believe is, his Oedipal phase. I was standing there in my "altogether" and realized that maybe he is getting to the age when I shouldn't allow him to see me like that anymore. I told him, "Booper...when it starts to make you feel weird or uncomfortable to see me without my clothes on, just tell me. I'll stop doing it, okay?" He said, "I will never feel weird to see you without your clothes on, Mommy."

Sometimes it's purely a logistical issue. I am home alone with both boys in the morning getting myself ready for work and them ready for school. I'm bound to be naked at some point in this process, but need to keep the door open so I can keep an eye on them.

And all this got me to thinking....

What's the consensus out there? Do you still let your (male) kids see you naked? If not, why not? And at what age did you stop? Did you see your parents naked when you were a kid? At what age did you stop seeing your opposite sex parent naked, and how did you feel about it?

Reveal Yourselves!

Once again, I am following in the footsteps of the much-beloved Halfmama, and asking my readership to Delurk Now! It's lonely at the top, one is the loneliest number, misery loves company, etc. So c'mon you MoFos, show yourselves!

In other exciting news, The Caboose pooped in the potty last night. A completely unprovoked and spontaneous act of dumpage. I guess preschool and the Booper have inspired him to get on board with the commode. I'm sure I looked like a total idiot dancing around the house, carrying a piece of Baby Bjorn molded plastic filled with sh*t, but a mother's love knows no bounds. He looked so cute sitting there, with his book, that I took his picture and now have photo documentation of his first foray into getting a fax from Mr. Brown. You know that's getting whipped out on prom night!

Where the Wild Things Are

In case you haven't checked out his blog, linked to this page, I want to introduce you to my friend Max.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/gender/beck.html

I've known Max since kindergarten, when we became best friends. We were inseparable. If you think of the kid that is best friends with your kid, that was me and Max. We stayed that way until 5th grade, when the unique and confusing pressures of junior high conspired to put distance between us. We were in a play together in high school, but once we went off to college, we fell completely out of touch.

For the last year or so, I have been lucky enough to have Max back in my life. But he is not doing well. Right now, he is asking everyone and anyone to put their spiritual energy behind him to bring him comfort, relief, and an end to what has been 41 years of unbelieve suffering, often in secret. If you pray to anything or anyone, and you have room in there for one more, please include Max. Thanks.