In defense of potty talk

During our first week in Texas Billy and I took turns unpacking and attempting to entertain the boys in our toy-less home. I spent hours trying to remember and enthusiastically perform songs from library time, while Billy mostly resorted to potty jokes. Unsurprisingly, the boys were much more impressed with Billy's entertaining skills than my heart-felt renditions. One afternoon, after twenty solid minutes of riotous laughter coming from the bedroom, I abandoned an impossible battle between my tupperware collection and a tiny cabinet to sneak a peek at the boys. I found them making "stinky backpacks". In case you'd like to make your own stinky backpack, follow these simple directions: 1) draw a circle (the backpack) 2) fill it with pictures of stinky things (Jimmy's stinky little foot, a skunk, dog doo-doo, a rotten banana peel, etc) 3) Repeat. Over and over and over.

Before having kids, I couldn't even muster up the ability to say the P word. (It's poo. I can say it now.) My mom will tell you how in third grade I couldn't manage to utter the two most important words in my science presentation. (Curious? Saliva and digestion. I know, I was really squeamish.) You'll need to ask Maureen, my best friend from high school, what distasteful word we replaced with the daintier code word "sweater".

It turns out that the veteran parents were right; dealing with yucky things has become so commonplace that potty words have really lost their shock value--for us, at least. Our kids are still terribly impressed by poo, saliva, digestion and... sweater-ing.

I've actually come to appreciate the benefits of bathroom talk. It brings families together. I'm serious. With potty humor, I can get Charlie laughing, which gets Jimmy laughing, which makes us all feel good about our relationship and our time together. Potty humor can be a simple tool for learning important social lessons:

* A shared joke can strengthen a relationship

* Laughter helps diffuse arguments and relieve stress

* It feels good to give and receive the gift of comedy (and not at someone else's expense)

*We can experience the thrill of "mischief" without hurting others

*There are different levels of formality in different settings.

Of course there's a time and a place, and there's a line you have to walk, but I've found that being okay with potty talk has brought a lot of joy to our family.

But I'll tell you what doesn't bring joy to anyone: actual stinky backpacks.