Willy…or Won’t He?

My daughter is very proud of her latest crafty creation…

Um…a dog? No – it’s a dragon, right??

No…

It’s an alien.

A boy alien.

* * * * *

“That’s its willy”, she announces.

I squint. “um..this?”

“No, Mummy! That’s his leg. THIS is his willy!”

Silly mummy. I didn’t ask her why she put a willy on her alien. I didn’t say much about it (burying head in sand) until she asked to bring it to “show and tell”, and in the rambling that followed I heard “and his willy”…

Whoa, nelly.

I explained that “talking about one’s private bits – yours or anyone else’s – isn’t proper. That’s personal.”

She pondered it a moment.

“Ok”, she replied, “can I have the scissors? I need to cut it off.”

* * * * *

I’m sure that all over the land, little paper cutout men inwardly cringed and covered their privates.

* * * * *

I also don’t know what it means that, when told she can’t talk about something, she would prefer to remove it entirely rather than simply ignore it….

* * * * *

I wonder how we can usefully apply this when we reach the dating stage?