T & A

This post requires a key, please revert to this throughout the post to better understand what body part is being talked about:

Key

T Tits A Ass Ninny Milks Tits Hammies Ass Girl Pip Vagina Boy Pip Penis

Lately, The Parker Babies are pretty obsessed with body parts. Lately, Abigail is very obsessed with ...  drumroll ... Ninny Milks!!! I'm pretty sure this has EVERYTHING to do with her other obsession of Katy Perry.

Daily are the conversations about when her Ninny Milks are going to get bigger, and why can't she have big ones now, and when will she get them, and how will she get them. She sings songs about getting them, she talks about Ninny Milks the whole ride to school, home from school, during bath time ... it's like she's a teenage boy trapped in a three year old girl's body. Every morning she asks me, for confirmation: 

When I'm an adult, I'll get bigger Ninny Milks, right?

Since she wants them NOW and wants them BAD, and time is not a concept that's well grasped by children, I've told her that they will get bigger when she's an adult. And she can buy them. Because unfortunately for sweet Abby Ru, large Ninny Milks do not run in our family. 

Then there's the pip talk. Both Matthew and Abigail sing songs about doing peeps out of their boy and girl pips, with such gusto they could take it on tour. FaceTime with my parents has become them stripping down to their underwear and running up and down the hall, screaming:

Nakie hammies time!!

Even Baby Mae gets in on that action and proceeds to take her clothes off whenever she hears the FaceTime ring.

I'm not going to lie, having kids who are so comfortable and pleased with their pips and hammies, is mortifying at times. Like when they pull their pants down and expose themselves on the school bus. In first grade. That's not so cute. It requires a back to square one approach and reviewing the rules of when and where it's OK to be naked. Those lines get blurred quick, apparently. 

But as a recovering pubescent teen I do hope my children keep a certain level of comfort and adoration for their little bodies. I know that one day they may have body image issues. I think it's one of those things that's a fact of life. But, like most facts of life, a lot lies in how we react/respond. Thinking about potential body image issues as a parent is sad, because their little bodies are SO perfect, it's impossible to think that one day they could dislike parts of it.

This causes self reflection on what I can do now to try to encourage positive body image. So, I made up a little diddly that Abigail and I sing a lot:

We have beautiful bod-ies/We have beautiful bod-ies/We have beautiful bod-ieeeeeeeeesssssss/Repeat/Repeat/Repeat etc.

This came about because kids are curious. Mine wanted to know why my tummy looks like that? You can't begrudge them, you just offer a very neutral, Switzerland response like:  

Because you're a miracle 

And they are back to wanting to get cuddly on your bed and knock off all the folded laundry. But!! Our bodies are beautiful!! I've birthed and breastfed three kids OF COURSE it's LESS head, shoulders, knees and toes; and MORE head, shoulders, boobs and stomach down to your toes. It's a GD miracle that gravity is SUCH a b. They are miracles.

Healthy bodies come in all shapes, sizes, colors, forms, etc. I always try to make sure I exercise with my kids or that they see me exercise because above whether their boobs are down to their toes or not, I want them to be healthy. If they are that, then that to me is a victory.