Yes, I am talking about front bottoms – as we also call them in our house.
BB came home from school one day last week and declared, in all seriousness, that the correct name for her foo foo isn’t in fact, front bottom, it’s ‘vageeena’.
Needless to say I properly snorted at this revelation, and it transpired this little pearl of wisdom came not from her teacher (phew) but from one of her classmates (I’d love to have been a fly on the wall during that conversation).
Even though she got it slightly wrong the word vagina sounds like such a grown-up word and a bit weird coming out of the mouth of a four-year-old. BB has only started differentiating between her ‘front’ and ‘back’ bottom in the last few months.
This got me thinking about child-friendly words for front bottoms. Is it possible to politely refer to a foo foo? Here’s what I came up with:
1. ‘Front bottom’. Nice and simple – says what it is.
2. ‘Bits’. Deliberately vague and covers both genders, means you don’t have to go into too much detail.
3. ‘Foo foo’. No idea where this came from, but it’s what we call it in our house.
4. ‘Minnie’. No idea where this came from either, but it’s what BB’s godmother calls it in her house.
5. ‘Noo noo’. Also deliberately vague, I have heard this at the paddling pool at our park. ‘Isabella, cover your noo noo’.
Anyway, I relayed the whole ‘vageeena’ thing to Misery Guts, who shrugged his shoulders and said as long as she doesn’t come home using the word ‘c**t’ there’s nothing to worry about. He’s got a point.
What do you call front bottoms in your house? Is there a ‘nice’ word? I’d love to hear them!
Linking up with…
Hahah this really made me laugh as we talk about this all the time! Its easy with boys, its just willy, but when we had the girls we had no idea what to call it! I don’t think that it should have the same name as another object, many people call it a flower or a fairy, and I think that’s too confusing! We just say bottom, although it then gets confusing as I have to ask, if they say their bottom is hurting, where you wee from or where you poo from?! Girls are hard work, maybe we will go with foo foo! #MarvMondays
We say ‘front bottom’ and ‘back bottom’ in order to determine where they mean when they say it’s hurting/itching too! It’s so much simpler for boys!
We call it a nunnie or noonie(no idea how to spell it) and this came from P1s nursery 7 years ago lol. I had no idea what to call it before
I have no idea what they call it at BB’s school and Little B’s nursery – I probably should find out so we all call it the same thing!!
Ha ha – we also use ‘foo foo’ but also have no idea where that came from! #fartglitter
I think this is the favourite at the moment based on the comments so far!
It’s called a fanny in my grand-daughters’ homes.
We used to have a cat called Fanny (as in Fanny Price from Mansfield Park) so that would be a bit confusing in our house!!xx
It is such a tricky conversation and one we’ve had too. We have always referred to it a a foo foo also no idea why! #fartglitter
I don’t know why we call it foo foo either – where does that even come from?!!
We use twinkle for girls and winkle for boys! It was what I called them as a child so it’s stuck! I can’t imagine my 4 year old using the word vagina or penis despite it being correct!
#MarvMondays
I haven’t heard the word twinkle since I was little! I guess these words stick and we tend to refer to things as our parents did too…
Chuckling over the way BB said “vageena”. It’s such a tricky one, isn’t it – there isn’t really a generic word for girls, in the way there is for little boys. I call them “girlie bits”. “Noo noo” would have my girls giggling over the Teletubbies forever more! Thanks for linking up with #ftmob 🙂
Noo noo seems to be very popular! I’d love to know the origin of all these words!
It’s such a tricky one! I know a lot of people who like their kids to know the actual words. I can’t remember having a word for it as a child, maybe front bum?! I did laugh at ‘as long as she doesn’t call it a c**t!’ – very true! #fartglitter
I love Misery Guts!! haha. It’s twinkle in our house and always has been. However, when she is a bit older I will say the proper school name. Twinkle is nice for now…even though it is part of a song!!! xx #marvmondays
My first thought was that children should know the formal words, they are just words and not rude. Then I remembered that my son has a wee wee and not a penis *blushes*
Brilliant!! We use ‘peachy’ I stole it from my friend who used it with her daughter. Apparently it looks like a peach!!! X #MarvMonday
My charming kids call it the bagina, so that has stuck..and kinda seems ‘nicer’ to say. #twinklytuesday
Oh that made me laugh so much! Yes Vagina is definitely a little better than the c-bomb. My daughter knows it’s called a vagina but we use the phrase “lady bottom” I have no idea how that came about to me honest. #twinklytuesday
Misery guts response to this made me nearly choke on my cereal..it’s exactly something my hubby would say. My 2 year old boy loves talking about his willy and asks a lot if girls gave willows and I’m never sure what to call it. Foo foo sounds ok so I think I’ll use that!xx #TwinklyTuesday
We use “bits” in our house. Flower and fairy are just a bit weird in my opinion!! We’ve told the big girl the proper names for boys and girls and she thinks they’re hilarious and still says “regina” instead!! #twinklytuesday
We used fan fan and I believe there as a campaign for fanjo (sp?) on Mumsnet as while back. I’m not asking the Tubblet what they say now she’s 12 and as long no one drops the C-bomb, then I’m cool with it.
I hear “nunny” a lot around here. There’s a lot of talk at the moment about whether you should refer to genitals as their proper name with kids, but I just can’t bring myself to talk to her about her “vulva”! She’s only 5 months, so we have time to think about it, but at the moment I tend to say “foof”. When I was little it was a “tuppence” – I have NO idea where that came from, but can you imagine how funny little me found “feed the birds, tuppence a bird…” #passthesauce
Misery Guts has a valid point and I did choked on my coffee reading it. Can you imagine? We just called them boy bits and girls bits, like you said nice and simple. I had a friend with a daughter and they referred to her bits as ‘flower’ which tickled my highly and I have another friend who also uses the words ‘foo foo’, when referring to bits.
xx
Ha ha, this is a very true and important question. ‘Lady parts’ is the word bandied around our house, it sounds as if we’re in a period drama. I don’t know what the answer is, I really don’t 😉 #passthesauce
hahaa love this! It’s a Mary or fan fan in our house! xx
#PassTheSauce
nunnie all the way. Though i remember my 6 year old coming home saying they knew the C word and I laughed and said oh you mean cr** and he announced no mummy cu** – absolutely mortified! It was a nice school, nice area – trust me!
oops #passthesauce
I call it a foof… 🙂 #passthesauce
I used to call it a Minnie, not entirely sure why! My boys are starting to get curious about certain parts of their bodies and doing the ‘has daddy got a willy?’ ‘Has mummy??’ Haha #twinklytuesday xx
At the risk of sounding a bit soap-box-y we use proper names with the theory it takes the shame out of it and opens up conversations which would hopefully allow our tot to discuss things more easily and prevent abuse.
Front bottom? Shudder 🙂 I’m not a fan of that one. My vagina is nothing like my butt.
#fartglitter
PS. I bet you get some interesting searches with this one.
She calls it a “front butt” we call it her “privates”. Visiting from fartglitter but it looked odd hashtagging that after my comment!
We go for front and back bottom in our house. #TwinklyTuesday
Hahaha…this is a great list! I have learnt something new today! We call them “privates” here. Thanks for sharing with #PassTheSauce
We’re all for proper words in our house. There doesn’t seem to be too much debate out there about whether or not it’s appropriate to say penis, yet so many of us seem to have an issue with saying vulva and/or vagina. Why is that, I wonder..?
I really had to challenge my own weird feelings about these correct terms, but now I can say them casually. I think it’s important that kids grow up knowing the proper words, and all girls should know the difference between a vulva and a vagina, because they really are very different things.
It was always referred to as a Minnie by my Mum. That takes me right back and made me smile. My nearly 3 year old son told me last week that “I wee through my widgy Mummy and you wee through your bottom”. Not wanting to have a further in-depth conversation on the subject I just agreed. 🙂
ps: popped over from #TheList
We had exactly this dilemma with our little one who is two going on three. Once we started potty training last christmas and new year we realised that we needed to call it something. Vagina is definitely too grown up a word to come out of the mouth of babes and so because we couldnt think of anything better we went with the same phrase that our older nieces and nephews have grown up using – minky. Its very strange and I dont particularly like it in the sense that it doesnt logically relate, but I couldnt think of anything better and now it is stuck lol. Interesting post 😉 Thanks for sharing it on #MarvMondays. Emily
Haha, loved this as we’ve been having this conversation in our house recently, trying to decide what word to use now my 2 year old has started to realise her brother has a winky and she doesn’t! We’ve used ‘foof’ once or twice but aren’t sure if that’s what will stick! x #TwinklyTuesday
Ha ha! So many wonderful words! We call it a nuny (sp?) no idea why! Thanks for linking up to #TheList x
Pretty sure I commented on his a while ago, we use bits in our house! #twinklytuesday