My 4 yr old calls his testicles/testes?... his nuts... "Ow, you hit me in the nuts..." ( accidently of course, by a ball etc..) I was shocked the first time he said this, but really couldnt get mad because what else should he call them... Balls sounds just as bad to me! HELP... what should they be called!?!
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.
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.
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.
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.
~Kyleen
I can't add anything to what the other Mommas have said...my almost 3 year grandson uses the correct anatomical terms for what I grew all calling "privates"....but I must admit that it IS a little amusing to hear "Penis" and "Vagina" coming out of the mouth of a toddler...I know that it is the wisest thing to be teaching him!!!
:o) My daughters used "Gina" pronounced with a long I because they couldnt' say the whole word.
We use penis. I don't think testicals every really came up.
either simply "privates" or correct annotomical names are acceptable
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".
Use correct terms, testicles, penis. In general he can refer to the whole thing as privates. Be honest and treat this matter of factly like you would any other body part.
Good luck.
I've always used the correct anatomical terms: testicles, penis. My son is now 7. And STILL I hear BALLSACK! lol
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
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.
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.
Definitely use the right term. Otherwise all kinds of laughing and embarrassment comes up every time someone refers to "a base on balls" or "allergy to nuts". It's okay if he knows the slang terms, but he should USE the real terms. "Privates" is okay - sometimes pediatricians use that term so it's good if the kids know it. (I know because my pedi told my son she needed to check his privates, and he was confused - until he figured it out and said "Oh, you mean my scrotum!" Pedi thought it was GREAT!) "Groin" is okay for the general area too.
I see a lot of comments from moms on this site, some of whom use "pee pee" for penis, and some of whom use "pee pee" for a girl's vaginal area. Talk about confusion on the playground! So go for the real words!
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 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 go with "private parts"
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!