Ella's Vagina Monologue

Let me preface this post by saying that I have taught Em and Ella the words "vagina" and "penis." These are parts of their anatomy like arms, legs, fingers and toes. Why not know the proper name for their genitalia? I've never dummed down anything else for them. Em and Ella are very intelligent little girls.

They are also little girls, so of course they find the word vagina hilarious. It is it's own joke ... punch-line and all. My best friend Ashley uses the word va-jay-jay, which I also happen to love and used in front of my girls one day. I think they love va-jay-jay even better than vagina. It is a fun word, after all....

The vagina is not a constant topic of conversation in our home, of course. But for effective communication, it just makes sense that Em or Ella is able to say "my vagina hurts" when they need to tell me something does not feel right. If one of them had an ear ache, they wouldn't say my "who-ha" hurts, right? 

This afternoon Ella was eating a bowl of cereal. She spilled the bowl full of milk and Lucky Charms all over the couch and her lap. I went upstairs to get her clean, dry panties and pants so she could change out of the wet ones. When I got back down stairs, Ella was sitting on the bench at the kitchen table. She had stripped out of her wet clothes, and she was perched, half naked, checking out her vagina.

I walked over with her clothes and helped her get on clean, dry panties and a pair of jeans. She was dressed and ready to move on to the next adventure. As I gathered up her wet clothing to put in the hamper, she says "Mommy, vaginas are kind of funny looking." I joined her on the bench and said, "yep. They are kind of funny looking aren't they." The conversation continued.

Ella: I think my vagina looks like a little mouth.
Me: I never thought about it, Ella, but I suppose it does look like a little mouth.
Ella: I think my vagina looks like it is smiling.
Me: If it is smiling, that must mean it's happy.
Ella: I love my little funny looking vagina.
Me: I'm glad you like your little funny looking vagina.

With that, Ella hopped off the bench and went running off to play with Em. I laughed to myself and thought Eve Ensler would be proud!