A few nights ago I sat around the computer with my family taking a tour of the Momicillin website.  Clicking on my biography I said, “Here’s my Who’s Who” section.   My son, the monkey, looked at me wide-eyed and exclaimed, “YOUR HOO HOO?!  IS ON THE COMPUTER?!”

Oh how we laughed and laughed!

Wait a minute.  Are we laughing at the same thing?  I mean, I guess we all understand what hoo hoo is SUPPOSED to mean, but HOW can that be?  After all, it’s not a euphemism we’ve ever used in our house –- who has my son been talking to?!  For that matter, who have I been talking to?

We’ve never really utilized adorable nicknames for the various parts of our bodies.  Nor, at the other end of the spectrum, are we the family that goes around carrying mirrors and using “their” actual names as often as possible, as though the sheer strength of our conviction would erase the nervous giggles that thousands of years of stigma have brought about.  We fall somewhere in the middle.   We use the proper terms when appropriate – as in “Honey, it’s not polite to touch your (insert anatomically correct word here) in public; now go say hello to your grandmother” – but not to excess. 

All of this got me wondering about the terminology that other parents use.  I asked around (note to self – apologize to PTO for awkward agenda item) and I do have to admire the creativity and variety that goes into re-naming our reproductive organs.  

I’ve divided some of my favorites into categories:

Most likely to be a Hobbit, Elf, or Fairy Tale Creature: Tiddly Wink, Tinkle Stick, Doodle and Powder Puff

Most likely to appear in Beverly Hills Chiuaua II: Chi Chi, Wee Wee, Pee Pee, and Mr. Dinkle

Most likely to live down the road from the Dukes of Hazard: ‘Enis, Coochie, Cookie and Coo

Most likely to take part in a world summit: ‘china

All in all, it’s a colorful cast of characters.  A genuine “Hoo’s Hoo”, you might say.