Like Father, Like Son
A couple of things you need to know to understand the funniness behind one of Aaron's comments:
1. Privacy is at a premium around here. The girls are good about knocking on the bathroom door or bedroom if the door is closed, but Aaron and Melina haven't quite learned that trick yet. Furthermore, we are a pretty open family, and nudity is just a normal thing here. That is not to say that the adults in the house parade around naked. But all children have seen their parents in the buff, and the kids still bathe together at times.
2. When Aaron was born, we chose not to circumcise him. Unfortunately, he has had some urinary issues as of late that have forced us to see a urologist. The urologist told us that the urethral opening was too small, and that when Aaron urinates, some of the urine backs up under the foreskin. The options to take care of this are: a. steroidal cream; b. a dorsal cut to the foreskin; c. complete removal of the foreskin, a.k.a. circumcision. We opted to try choice a for three months and reevaluate.
3. Aaron loves to imitate Tim. Often, he will put on his "Daddy shirt" to look like Tim. When he does that, he finds it hilarious if I can't figure out who is who.
Do you know where this is going? I am sure you do.
The steroidal cream does not seem to be having an effect on the urethral opening. Because of that, Tim discussed with Aaron what the other options were. He explained the dorsal cut and the circumcision, and asked Aaron what his choice would be. According to Tim, Aaron wants to "be like Daddy" and therefore, has chosen to have the circumcision.
At lunch today, this is what happened:
Seriously. He said that. I stifled most of my laughs, but some of them escaped. I cannot tell you how much I love that little guy!
1. Privacy is at a premium around here. The girls are good about knocking on the bathroom door or bedroom if the door is closed, but Aaron and Melina haven't quite learned that trick yet. Furthermore, we are a pretty open family, and nudity is just a normal thing here. That is not to say that the adults in the house parade around naked. But all children have seen their parents in the buff, and the kids still bathe together at times.
2. When Aaron was born, we chose not to circumcise him. Unfortunately, he has had some urinary issues as of late that have forced us to see a urologist. The urologist told us that the urethral opening was too small, and that when Aaron urinates, some of the urine backs up under the foreskin. The options to take care of this are: a. steroidal cream; b. a dorsal cut to the foreskin; c. complete removal of the foreskin, a.k.a. circumcision. We opted to try choice a for three months and reevaluate.
3. Aaron loves to imitate Tim. Often, he will put on his "Daddy shirt" to look like Tim. When he does that, he finds it hilarious if I can't figure out who is who.
Do you know where this is going? I am sure you do.
The steroidal cream does not seem to be having an effect on the urethral opening. Because of that, Tim discussed with Aaron what the other options were. He explained the dorsal cut and the circumcision, and asked Aaron what his choice would be. According to Tim, Aaron wants to "be like Daddy" and therefore, has chosen to have the circumcision.
At lunch today, this is what happened:
Me: Aaron, Daddy says that when we get the skin on your penis cut, that you want to look like him.
Aaron: Yes. Because then I will look like Daddy, and when we are going potty, you won't be able to tell who is who.
Seriously. He said that. I stifled most of my laughs, but some of them escaped. I cannot tell you how much I love that little guy!
Comments
Please, please read this before you get your kid circumcised.
doctorsopposingcircumcision.org
Especially read the FAQ section. Unfortunately, many doctors, even urologists, are not that equipped to deal with normal foreskin development. Children are virtually never circumcised for medical reasons anywhere else in the world.
Many of the problems with children's foreskins can be traced back to forced retraction by an adult. This should never happen, and the link I gave you will explain more about that.
I do hope you examine the "look like dad" desire too. This is so common, but is it really in the best interest of your son?
Penn Gilette of Penn and Teller tackles the "look like dad" desire very humorously here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yRFNciRUAk
If nothing else, I hope you can get a second opinion. The differences between doctors views on foreskin can be astounding.
Best of luck to you. Caroline
Clearly I am not a urologist, but I don't quite understand the situation.
If the urethral opening was too small, that wouldn't actually be a foreskin problem (the urethral opening is the opening on the head of the penis).
Likewise, steroidal creams and whatnot would not be a solution.
Some men (oddly enough, only circumcised men) develop a scarring of the urethral opening which causes it to become narrowed. This can be painful, and requires a surgery to correct in most cases... where they literally reshape the urethral opening.
It sounds more like your son's foreskin is a little bit tight at the tip. This is perfectly normal, especially if he is still very young. Unless your son is in pain, there is no real problem here.
Even if the foreskin "balloons" a small amount when he urinates, this is actually not a problem, its a natural part of the foreskin separating from the glans as a child grows older (though it doesn't happen to all boys).
You actually should not even be bothering with the steroid cream at this point in his life... unless, of course, there is pain.
Perhaps a better solution would be to teach your son to dry his penis with a piece of toilet paper after he urinates. Teaching him to gently pull back on his foreskin as he urinates is also an idea.. and he could also begin to gently pull back on it in the shower or bath, as he begins to wash it. It doesn't need to retract for YEARS yet.. so there is no emergency.
I hope you'll speak to another urologist about this situation before opting to circumcise (or even dorsal slit, for that matter!)
Your son is a little young to be choosing surgery for cosmetic reasons, though, I think. There is no guarantee that his desire to look like his father will seem like a good reason to cut off sensitive, useful genital tissue when he's 20, 30, 40 years old.
I think you made a great decision to not circumcise as an infant, I hope you'll reconsider the advice of your current urologist.
:)
(I do get why you found the comment he made cute, by the way)