Boys Will Always Be Boys
There is the ongoing discussion among conscientious parents about whether we refer to our private parts by "nicknames" or by their actual names. As a kid, we used nicknames but as a parent I find myself using proper names with The Sun--for the simple fact that nothing seems to be an appropriate nickname for "penis". The word itself is weird, but any thing else seems either just as weird, silly ("piche dee" comes to mind) or downright inappropriate for a small child to use. So "penis" it is.
The Sun however, disagrees, and refers to his "privates" as either "privates" or "shabbalabbadingdong." Apparently, he picked this word up from a crazy former classmate of his. Crazy as in "A very old, crass woman trapped in the body of a very young girl". (You can see where this could be a problem. The classmate has since moved away... she was Irish/Mohawk/WASP-or-some-derivative-thereof, and held her own in a predominantly working-class, Hispanic/Multi-ethnic/African-American environment. I frequently wonder how she's holding up in middle-class-Riverdale. But I digress.)
The Sun's best friend in class is this kid who I'll refer to as PreacherSon. I'm not entirely certain that his father is in fact a pastor or preacher, but the kid just strikes me that way. And he's a real spitfire, sort of sandy-colored with hazel eyes, a husky voice and an insane giggle. The Sun and PreacherSon giggle endlessly about "shabbalabbadingdong"
But yesterday, with the help of another classmate (and his mom, I think--who like me enjoys not working and hanging out in the kids school... she has a Masters Degree and used to work at the UN, and now she unabashedly takes joy in decorating the school office door and helping out in both of her kids classes), the boys were introduced to "dingaling".
So of course, when the Sun came home I had to show him this video:
He thought this was the funniest thing he'd ever heard, and loved that Chuck Berry apparently thought so too.
The Sun however, disagrees, and refers to his "privates" as either "privates" or "shabbalabbadingdong." Apparently, he picked this word up from a crazy former classmate of his. Crazy as in "A very old, crass woman trapped in the body of a very young girl". (You can see where this could be a problem. The classmate has since moved away... she was Irish/Mohawk/WASP-or-some-derivative-thereof, and held her own in a predominantly working-class, Hispanic/Multi-ethnic/African-American environment. I frequently wonder how she's holding up in middle-class-Riverdale. But I digress.)
The Sun's best friend in class is this kid who I'll refer to as PreacherSon. I'm not entirely certain that his father is in fact a pastor or preacher, but the kid just strikes me that way. And he's a real spitfire, sort of sandy-colored with hazel eyes, a husky voice and an insane giggle. The Sun and PreacherSon giggle endlessly about "shabbalabbadingdong"
But yesterday, with the help of another classmate (and his mom, I think--who like me enjoys not working and hanging out in the kids school... she has a Masters Degree and used to work at the UN, and now she unabashedly takes joy in decorating the school office door and helping out in both of her kids classes), the boys were introduced to "dingaling".
So of course, when the Sun came home I had to show him this video:
He thought this was the funniest thing he'd ever heard, and loved that Chuck Berry apparently thought so too.
Comments
Makes you go hmmmmmm...
I like Shabbalabbadingdong myself. A lot better than some I have heard!
If everything is fine, and it's an everyday moment, then euphemisms get used , but if there's a problem or a teachable moment, then we use the proper terms.
I guess you could call it the stomach/belly approach. So my girls will have a stomach ache, but when they're feeling better, I will tickle their bellies. If Spice falls down she might hurt her rear end, but when Sugar's acting silly she shakes her booty.
And "shabbalabbadingdong," well I always wondered what it was about when Sugar told me that was her wildly inappropriate friend's imaginary friend. Now, that I'm certain what others are using that term for...well, you know that girl is something else.