The Vagina, The Breast, And The Penis

A vagina, a breast, and a penis walk into a bar....

Get your giggles out now, cause that's the only joke I have for you.

I'm struggling with figuring out how to open this post. I know what I want to say in the meat of it, but the beginning is failing me.
So let's start with a question-
What do YOU call these body parts? What do you call them when you are talking with your spouse? What do you call them when you are talking with your doctor? What do you call them when you're talking with your friends?
What do you call them when you're talking with your children?

Be honest with yourself on that last one.

If you DO use the words "vagina" "breast" and "penis" with your children, this post is not directed at you. You are excused ;) The rest of you, I pray you'll continue reading and consider what I have to say.

So you don't use 'those' words, eh?
Why is that?
Do you know?

When my daughter was little I used the word "coochie" in place of vagina. I never really used any word for my son when he was little cause it just never came up. But she had some issues for a period of time (I think it was a yeast infection) and I needed to ask her questions about her itching/hurting "down there".
I was never really comfortable using the word "vagina". I'm not really sure why.
But it was brought to my attention once, on Facebook no less, that I wasn't doing right by my children by using different words in place of the proper names of these body parts.

What if my daughter were molested?
What if my son had a UTI?
How would they tell a teacher, a doctor, an adult other than me that something is wrong?
Would another adult know what my child was talking about when they say "my coochie hurts"?
Possibly.
Possibly not.

So, I immediately decided that it was only right to use the proper terminology for my children's anatomy.
The vagina, the breast, and the penis.

It was hard for me, at first, to use these words. But now we're very open in our home with them. And that's really the way it should be. Don't be afraid or nervous to teach your children the right words for their body parts. It could mean the difference between a medical condition found, or a criminal brought to justice.