How to tell a 6 year old the difference between girls and boys?

Question

I am on my sisters account and my 6 year old is aking wh her and her brother are different. these are the questions she is asking

why doesn't he sit and go

and

why can't she go and pee standing like her brother.

please help.

Answer 1

Simple and straight to the point.

Explain that boys go standing up and girls sit down only explaining further if she asks more questions.

Answer 2

I agree with rachel....straight to the point no pun intended =)..

Answer 3

just explain that boys and girl have different parts for that.

Answer 4

Explain honestly. Tell her that boys have willies, and girls  have vaginas (or whatever you want to call them)

Say boys bits are on the outside, and girls are on the inside, that's why girls need to sit to pee. It's best to be honest and precise, but explain it in a way that she will understand.

Answer 5

Boys have a p***s, girls have a v****a.

A p***s can be aimed so they can stand. A urethra on a girl can't as it is tucked away

Answer 6

Be simple.. Just say that is how boy do it and that is how girls do it. No need to give a complicate answer.

Answer 7

The other respondents are mistaken in thinking that girls cannot pee standing (see the source cited below for this). In fact, there is no real reason why a girl should not pee standing (or why a boy should not pee sitting).

Associating a particular posture for bodily waste elimination with masculinity or femininity is not only highly arbitrary (unlike many other traditional gender role associations) but is also detrimental to convenience. It really should be a non-issue as far as acting male or acting female is concerned, especially considering that in some parts of the world females pee standing as a norm (some parts of Africa, for instance), and, according to what I have heard, females used to pee standing much more frequently in past centuries in the Western world (when they wore long dresses, for instance). Also it is to be noted that nearly all religions have never said anything against peeing in these "unusual" ways (in and of itself), with the possible exception of Islam.

Some males prefer to pee sitting because it keeps the toilet cleaner. Similarly, some females who realize it is possible for them to pee standing, do it because for them it is easier, faster, and/or more convenient to do in places such as outdoors.

Anyway, my main point is, why buy into the cultural prejudice against a certain way of peeing for a given gender? It has never ceased to puzzle me why people make an issue out of something that matters so little.

I think the main question should be whether your daughter can stand and go without making a mess. If she can do that, or learn to do it, why not let her? The only thing you should be concerned about, it seems to me, is that she doesn't get into embarrassing situations by trying it where other girls/women who have the common, prejudiced view are present. Once you make it clear to her that it shouldn't be tried in more public settings like that, what is wrong with her attempting it?

A similar thing applies to her question about your son. There would not be anything wrong with him sitting if he chose (what harm could it possibly do?), and I would sincerely advise against spreading the popular idea on this further.

So as to how you could answer her questions:

Not being a parent, I'm not sure my advice is as good as it could be. Again, I strongly advise against putting anything into her head about it being "the wrong way" for girls to stand or boys to sit, for all those reasons described above, but naturally care is necessary in talking to someone so young about this sort of thing. Perhaps... say something like this?

"In America that's just the way it's usually done. Boys and girls have different body parts that they go pee out of, and this makes a lot of people think they have to go different ways, with girls sitting and boys standing. It's possible for boys and girls to go the other ways, and there's nothing bad about that, but if a girl tries to stand or a boy tries to sit, they should make sure they don't do it in front of people who THINK it's bad."

And then provide any further explanation that's necessary.

(added later:) I see someone gave this a thumbs-down. A follower of the popular, narrow-minded view, perhaps?

Answer 8

simply tell her that boys go a diffrent way than girls and all girls go the same way and all boys go the same way boys do you cant hide this from her forever