'Tickle my willy, Mummy!' What's the best response?

[DowagersHump]

DS likes to be tickled very much. We often have mammoth tickling sessions lying in bed on weekend mornings which is all lovely and innocent but every now and then, he says 'tickle my willy'.

So far I've managed to successfully divert his attention away and he's not insistent but what is the best thing to do? I don't want to give him hang ups but at the same time, I am obviously not going to!

Anyone got any suggestions of the best way to tackle (ho ho) this?

He he
You could say that some bits should only be tickled by the person they belong to i.e you tickle mummies feet, neck etc but not my boobs. How old is he?

They are his special bits that should only be tickled by him. This worked on mine.

how old is he?

DS has said this before, and I just laugh and continue tickling him under his armpits or belly etc.

I suppose it's a good intro to the conversation that goes "some bits of you are private and noone else is allowed to touch them".

They are his bits, and while you clean them, only he can play with them otherwise.

He's 5. I've always thought it was a bit of a lie to say that only he can tickle them because at some point presumably he is going to want someone else to tickle them.

But that's so far off, I assume I don't need to worry he's going to get cross about my moving goalposts. :o I had a boyfriend whose mother gave him terrible hangups and I'm really anxious not to (am a single parent so no male around to advise).

don't worry about hangups by telling him no-one else can touch his willy, unless it is you or daddy washing him. That is accurate and correct now so not dishonest. It is not changing goalposts either. As he grows into a man, things change, so when he is at an age to make an informed decision about who can and cannot touch his own body he will already know that.

I mean FGS we lie to our children when they are this age (some don't i understand that too!) and it does not give them hangups and they don't have issues about our honesty levels, or, (if they do they are very shortlived) father christmas, tooth fairy, for example, so this type of drip feed wont touch them !

cuttedup i think i personally would not use the word 'private' at 5, but then that is probably personal thing that families decide amongst themselves. In my family we don't necessarily cover up when at home without guests, so in that sense, his willy would not be 'private'. Unless/until he chooses to cover up but in my experience, 5yos have little modesty! I would think simple is best as mentioned before. I expect that soon enough that will change and the kids will be begging me to get dressed in the morning under the duvet so they can't see but until that time, not even my 'bits' are private when the kids are around.

I don't know though. I guess we have introduced it to some extent in this house. there are times when it is now appropriate for DD aged almost 6 to wear knickers, which is when we have guests as she knows that her girly bits are not for the world to see (and for hygenic reasons, sat at a meal table etc!) But, I would not want her to feel she is unable to walk around completely naked in front of mummy or daddy because her bits are private.

I think there is a risk for hangups if it is all over complicated, and a big issue made of it.

I told my children that their gentialia were private, and if either had asked me to tickle them there I would have just said "no". They ran around the house naked for many years, and at five we still shared showers and baths. We still don't shut the bathroom door now and I've had some good chats with my children when one of us has been in the bath (they are 13 and 11). I wouldn't worry about giving them hang ups at this age, just say a brief 'no, that's your private place' or something similar and continue with the game. i suspect he'll pick up that you are distracting him at some point in any case.