The untainted presence of innocence in children is what I love most about them…

I’ll never forget the day our younger son, Steven Earl, came up to me and proudly revealed that he had just figured out the way he came out of my tummy. My heart was in my mouth as I realized the gravity of what my five year old was telling me. Though I felt so embarrassed and sick to my stomach, I put on my sweetest smile and bravely resigned myself to this unexpected discussion and asked him outright to tell me how I gave birth to him. To my great relief, he explained to me very briefly, “Mommy I crawled out of your stomach and came out through your mouth!” Phew!!!

 And how about the night my husband and I overheard our older son, Patrick, (who was 6 at the time) giving his younger brother a quick lesson in anatomy. Apparently, they were having a serious discussion about this subject.  He said to Steven Earl, in his I-know-stuff-that-you-don’t tone, “Steven, boys have ‘tin-tins’ (our nicknames for their private parts) and girls have butts!” Ngek!!! Needless to say, “lin-lin” was hesitantly introduced to our innocent-minded boys that night. After all, we, girls, gotta pee too, just like the boys do. Don’t wee?