The impending arrival of Madison’s new baby brother has her doing a lot of thinking about babies including how they get in there and how they get out. She forgets things she’s heard before or maybe she finds them so unbelievable that she has to ask again and again to make sure the answer stays the same.
Madison was a cesarean section baby and she was worried about that, worried that the cut hurts the mama. I told her they give the mommy medicine so that it’s ok and everyone is just so happy about the baby that the hurting doesn’t matter so much. She asked if there was blood and I said that when babies get born, there is blood but this is because bodies make blood and isn’t bad for the mommy or the baby. She asked if Noah was a c-section and I said that he was a v*ginal birth. Now THAT surprised her. She has her “how babies get made” books and so she’s seen the (cartoon) pictures and all but this was hitting close to home. She could not stop thinking about it. She asked me if that hurt and I said yes but again, it’s such a happy time with a baby that the hurting is all right.
Still, she was just amazed that such a thing could HAPPEN. Then after a little bit of reading her book (we were sitting in bed reading together) she said, “Does it go to your SOUL?” I said, “Does what go to your soul?” Then I realized she meant women’s v*ginas because after all, if a baby comes out of it, it’s something pretty special right?
I asked her what she thought and she said she didn’t know but probably. I said some people thought that. (I didn’t tell her that zillions of years of patriarchy have been based on similar theories.) I said she was right about v*ginas being special.
She’s a budding feminist, that one!
Possibly related posts:
Aw. She can come and watch Maya’s birth video if she really wants her mind blown.
Hey, next potluck! You can make popcorn and we can all settle in for the show!
My best friend does Bradley childbirth education, and so her sons have seen a lot of those vids – and spent a lot of time acting out giving birth, or making her do it with them (even though she didn’t give birth to the second one). It’s very cute.
What is her book Dawn?
We have all the Roby Harris books and the middle one (It’s So Amazing!) she calls her p*nises and v*lvas book. We gave her the little kid one (It’s not the Stork!) for xmas and she opened it and crowed, “My very own p*nises and v*lvas book!!!”
“Still, she was just amazed that such a thing could HAPPEN.”
Yeah, really, isn’t it? I’m not sure I completely understand how it can possibly work, either
.
What a interesting girl.
Clara asked me at around the same age how babies get out of the mother, and when I told her, got a look of incredulity mixed with horror and said, “But that would be really squishy!” So true.
Also, I’m with bj. I still can’t believe such a thing can happen, even though I’ve done it twice.
cant we write the words vaginas and penisis any more on the web?
She is so brilliant