Nuts, Balls, testicles…What Should My Pre-schooler Call Them!?!

Grandpa taught them "family jewels", i taught them "privates", daddy taught them exactly what they were.

All my boys say nuts or balls. They aren't trying to be crude, it just sounds weird to them to say testicles. Plus I've learned that boys love talking about private parts and saying fart jokes. Just one of those things you get used to. :-)

Why does the term "nuts" bother you? We call them balls, but I don't care if they call them nuts. Mine know the proper terms for their body parts, but we usually call the testicles "balls."

I'll be in the minority here, but I think nuts or balls is fine! We have nicknames for a lot of body parts that have just become part of our language, and are easier for kids to prounounce. No one gets upset when we call our abdomen a "belly" or buttocks a "bum bum" and sometimes our toes are "piggies". What is the big deal with nuts?? I think I would just be embarassed when he referred to his privates no matter what he calls them, especially in public.

Don't get me wrong, I don't think there's anything wrong with teaching the proper names, I just don't see the need to only use them. Why is balls a bad word and testicles is not?? Maybe people who ONLY use anatomically correct names for body parts are trying to be politically correct all the time, I bet they never say binkie or na-night or ba-bye.

Always give your children the correct names for their body parts. This avoids confusion, avoids embarrassment when he refers to them (which he will), and helps him know that there is no shame in any part of our bodies.

This just happened to us this week! My son came home and told me that at recess, a ball got him "right in the biscuits". It was all I could do to not just burst out laughing! After reading your post, I'm glad to see that most other parents take a relaxed attitued, too.

Too funny. Testicles is just a lame word. Make sure your son knows that the proper name IS testicles but I think nuts and balls is a pretty universal term these days. My sons called them nuts... I believe they learned it from Dad... I refer to them as the twig and berries.. but apparently that is not masculine enough for them, haha.

That's pretty funny! We just say privates. I'm sure before too long they will start using slang, but they do know what the "real" names are. I don't think it's a big deal to use the slang. Boys do that. It's how they talk to each other. Heck, it's how grown men talk to each other. I think that mothers (women) tend to get hung up on this kind of thing, but the boys and dads really don't understand the big deal. I don't think they even notice!

Yeah "testicles" is safe. The problem with all our slang terms for all that stuff is it's usually considered a "bad" word that children shouldn't say. As he gets older I'd teach him all the slang terms anyway, so he knows what the other kids mean. Just make sure he knows they're slang terms and some people might not approve of his saying them.

Have to echo the correct anatomical terms, all the way. Just makes things so much easier! I have three boys and my oldest is 10. It's funny to him now to learn the slang words and even this weekend he and his dad were watching tennis and I heard them both giggling any time the announcer talked about "balls" at any length.
We did always encourage him to say "privates" any time he needed to refer to them in public

LOL, Grandma TM, I agree: testicles is a lame word.

You, as the parent, should call things by their proper names, but no normal kid says testicles. Guess what? Your kid's not a nerd!

I would encourage testicles, but who couldn't laugh at a four year old referring to his "nut?" LOL! By the time he is a teen "nuts" will sound mild anyway. I wouldn't make a big deal about it any which way.

We have always used the anatomically correct terms. One of the things that I noticed was that it took all the fun out of bathroom humor so I wasn't forced to listen to endless "weinie" or "nuts" jokes as they were getting older.

Also, I always figured I don't call my hair "fluff-n-puff" or my eyes my "googly-goos", so why would I call a vagina a "cookie" or apenis a"thingy".

My2,
We used appropriate medical terms. Testes would be alright. However, my boys have gone throw a lot of different terms since my oldest (now 16) started kindergarten. Don't make a big deal out the slang terms. Try to redirect to the more appropriate terms.

I've never had brothers and my husband spent a lot of time away for work so I had to figure out this boy thing on my own. My opinion is that they can refer to their body using terms that they are comfortable with, as long as they know the correct terms. Do what works best for you and your boys.

Good luck.
~K.

My son calls it his Junk. LOL!

either simply "privates" or correct annotomical names are acceptable

We call them nuggets. I think it's funny, and my son does too. I grew up thinking that any reference to "privates" was a no-no, so I never really knew what to say. My son got this term from a movie, and I think it's great! I never want him to be ashamed of his body, or think that it's wrong to talk about it, so I'm glad this was what he came up with himself. Good luck with this. Your son will undoubtedly give you many more things to ponder in the next few years. Enjoy it!

K.

I am dying with laughter! I had to stop reading the responses after a few because I am going to wet myself with laughter! Listen...you know it's important for kids to know the "proper" names of our body parts. But comm'on...he's four years old! Let me say I live in a house with 5 males...my husband and 4 boys who range in age from 12 years to 22 months (my kids that is!) - and we never, and I mean NEVER refer to anything by it's "real" name. They know what the real name is because I have taught them, but why make such a big deal out of it?? Franks and beans, nuts, balls, weenie, pee pee, privates, and my personal favorite "tenders" - this comes from the movie Kung Fu Panda. One time I referred to my son's scrotum as his nutsack, and I caught myself after I said it, told him what it was really called, then we laughed and agreed that we didn't like the word "scrotum" - so nutsack it is!! Don't be so worried. I myself don't see the harm in using made up names. It's part of life.

I had to laugh at your question, and am happy I have no boys. However, recently my little girl got hit in the crotch area with a ball and shouted "hey, you hit me right in the tenders!". What?? I asked her where she had heard that and she told me Joey at school says it. I sort of explained that she didn't have any "tenders", but sort of thought it was an interesting term for that area on a boy. Good luck!

I'm puzzled at why he has to call them anything. I can't remember hearing a preschooler giving them a name. And, why is some one hitting him there?

My grandchildren, ages 10 and 7 call that are privates. My grandson would say, "he hit me in my privates" if that were to happen.

The adult people I know call them balls in ordinary conversation. I'm a retired police officer and that was the vernacular we used. Lots of double entendre possibilities there. :) When explaining anatomy, say to our children, we call them testicles or the scrotum.

I am a big believer in calling things by their official name, no one can be offended by a medical name surely. My son has always used the word testicles.

We use the proper names in our house, too. Our son is 4, our daughter is 2, and they both call them by the appropriate name. I honestly hate the word vulva, so we say vagina for our daughter which is also "Gina" as someone else mentioned, even though it's not technically accurate.

Funny story: we were having lunch at Costco a few weeks ago, I went to throw away our trash, and our 2 year-old daughter told me boys have "tacos" - apparently she was telling me they have testicles but couldn't pronounce the word.

We go with "private parts"

This is too funny. Love all the responses! My son who is 5 calls them his "boys". Also they have been called Jewels. We have not gotten into the whole what their names really are though. Plenty of time for that later!

Gotta love little boys!! Just had to add my two bits, my son is also 4 and at our house we refer to them as boy parts. Boys have boy parts and girls have girl parts, I'll worry about being more "correct" when he gets a little older.