Awful way to start the day

[Lee-Bee]

I am not trying to minimize the situation, especially with a somewhat older child telling younger kids to drop their pants. but we as adults need to keep in mind that while we are very uncomfortable with seeing other people naked it is incredibly natural for young kids to not have a care in the world about showing off their bums!

When we pass on our unease about such things then we can prevent the young kids from naturally learning about boys and girls and we can turn something simple into something that the sense is wrong and mysterious but have no concept as to why. In which case they can often be forced to start exploring when no adult is around to see what the big deal is about.

When we use fake words to label body parts we just further teach that there is something wrong with the body parts.

There is nothing better than using the preschool years in group settings to have open bathrooms to learn about boys and girls in a relaxed casual manner. The other day my 2 yr old was telling me at lunch that "boys have peanuts, daddy has peanuts" wrong pronunciation of the word but right concept to know for a 2 yr old.

Obviously without knowing the purpose of his exploring you need to tread carefully. Lay down the rules but don't make him feel horrible. He most likely was doing some very honest childhood exploration and there is nothing wrong with that.

Open dialogue a 7yr old can tell you why he was doing it, what his intent was, what he wants to know etc. He can also very quickly learn that he should not do it again. But keep things safe so he can come to you when he has more questions.