Scene: We're in the car, on the way to daycare. For some reason I don't really recall, we are talking about babies.
Mimi: I was a baby in China.
Boo: I was a baby and I grew in Mommy's tummy!
Me: Not in my tummy, in my uterus. We talked about how there is a special place in your body just for babies to grow. [Note: I hate the "tummy" thing. It's factually incorrect, and then there's the confusion with how the baby GOT in the tummy. Did you SWALLOW it?]
Mimi: Yeah! And then the baby comes out your VAGINA! [Note: We had just talked about this a couple of days before, after Mimi informed the babysitter that "Babies come out your butt!!!" Again, precision is important.]
Boo: Ewwwwwwww!
Mimi: Yeah! There's a hole the baby comes out of! [Pause] Mom, when I grow up ... [longer pause] You know what? I changed my mind. I don't want to grow up anymore.
Me [stifling laughter]: Well, you will grow up. But just because you get to be an adult, doesn't mean you have to have kids. Some people choose to have kids, and some choose not to. And some people adopt.
Mimi: Like me! You adopted me!
Me: Right! And some people, like our friends Kate and Deb, chose not to have children at all.
Mimi [indignantly]: BUT THEY HAVE US!
Boo: YEAH! US!
Me: Well, yes. And they like to come over and play with you and then go home. They are friends, not parents. So maybe you will choose to have a baby that grows in you, and maybe you will choose to adopt, or maybe you will choose not to be a mom at all. Those are all good choices.
Mimi: I want to have kids. As friends. Can we listen to the Chipmunks now?
