As Margaret and I were driving home from AWANA (church group) Wednesday night, she started teasing me, saying she grew in grandma's tummy, purely to get a reaction. I kept saying I remembered her in MY tummy quite well and would show her pictures at home.
Then, suddenly, she stopped, was quiet for a few seconds, and said "Hey, how do babies get out of mommy's tummies?"
Uhhhhhhhh, crap.
"God makes a special place for the babies to come out."
"Where?"
"He makes a special place."
"But where?"
(Oh, goodness, what do I say? what do I say?? I considered 'by your bottom' but I didn't want her to be scared. Or graphic when having pretend babies.)(Can you even imagine??)
"You'll find out when you're grown up and have a baby that needs to get out."
(I'm really not looking forward to the 'how does the baby get in talk' either.)
She asked again the next day and I did break down and say "by your bottom." I decided to go with 'things aren't as scary if you've known about them since before you could really understand it.'
I'll probably have to buy one of those books now - what is the series everyone is always recommending about sex and babies? The one where there's three different versions for different age groups? I was completely unprepared for this question so "God makes a place" came out of nowhere (probably because we were coming home from church) and wasn't an approach I'd decided on in advance.
See, this is one of those times I use having c-sections to my advantage. When Hayley has been curious I've told her mommies go to the hospital and the doctor helps get them out. When she asks for more, as she sometimes does, I've reminded her of the boo-boo I had on my tummy after her brother was born. I never flat out had to say I was cut open, yet, but all of this has seemed to add up in a way that makes enough sense for her.
ReplyDeleteMy daughter was 4 when I was expecting her little brother, so I got that question a lot. I held her off for a while by just saying "The doctor helps it get out." When she pressed for more specifics, I just flat-out said that women have a place between their legs where the baby comes out. She just sort of said "Oh" and seemed disappointed that the answer wasn't more interesting! :)
ReplyDeleteI had c-sections for both of the girls. When my nephew started asking my sister how his cousin was going to get out of me, she said the doctors would help her out through my belly. He asked her if that is how he got out. She said no, God made a special place for him to come out. He then reasoned that God must not have made a special place on me. She was stumped and changed the subject.
ReplyDeleteEzra asked THIS EXACT SAME THING a few weeks ago. Thankfully, I vaguely said that Iris came out of the top of my tummy and he came out the bottom of my tummy and he accepted it. I have told him about the difference of anatomies between him and Iris, but I somehow didn't feel game about going there on a Tuesday morning.
ReplyDeleteI was just talking to Kalena today about how babies don't actually grow in your tummy. I'm pretty sure I used the phrase "special place" even. Fortunately she did not ask how they get out.
ReplyDeleteWe have this book: http://www.amazon.com/Its-Not-Stork-Families-Friends/dp/0763633313/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1360765088&sr=8-4&
ReplyDeleteBut I have to admit, even though I've been very forthcoming with my girls (we talk about their anatomy with scientific precision and it comes up a surprising amount. I recently overheard my oldest explaining to a friend that "BLOOD sometimes comes out of your 'gina when you're GROWN UP!") but I have yet to put the book into rotation. I think I need to read it all first and I haven't yet. Hmm.