Talking With a 3-Year Old

M-Girl is now 3 and she's doing great. She's growing, speaking more and in general- is a pretty awesome kid.
She's finally stopped sucking her fingers too finally!!!
With that said, she still hasn't left her "Terrible 2's" entirely yet but at least she compensates for those nasty mood swings with funny chats.

Whenever it's "shark week" - M-Girl loves to ask about periods.
She understands the term "bleeding" because she's bashed her fingers and knees so many times (along with biting her brothers occasionally!), plus she has a book about the human body and we talked about being careful so she doesn't get too hurt and that bleeding from a cut is normal.

Of course, during my last "shark week" - she burst into the bathroom and questioned everything.

"What's this?"
"A pad."
"It's a band aid?"
"Yeah something like that..."
"You bweed (bleed)?"
"Yes."
"You hurt?"
"Nah I'm okay. You will get this when you're older!"
"When I'm 6?!"
"No. When you're 13 or so..."
"It's a sticker for your under-vare? (Underwear)"
"Yes exactly."
"You bweed (bleed) out your China (vagina)?!"
"Yes sometimes. I'm okay!"
"Ahhh ok."

And then she left and I could finally finish up my bathroom break alone.

I had debated on whether or not to have some version of a puberty chat with her (and the boys) but she seems to have a lot of interest in herself and the human body in general.  So I didn't really have to think about it.
I saw no harm in telling her the bare basics.

Sure, I could've locked the door but she has a habit of banging the door down until we open it - that or she's already in the bathroom...and she simply doesn't give AF what you're doing - she just wants to hang out.

And seeing as I'm a woman and the shark weeks are still going to be a part of my life for the next many years - and PIC is probably not entirely comfortable with talking about it to her (he lacks experience from a female perspective) I may as well prepare her and she'll just be better prepared.

But at least she's aware that in about ten years or so - her nasty mood swings will be a  bit more justified and she and I can discuss cups versus tampons versus pads (aka band-aids/"stickers for under-vare").

BIMU

PS/Disclaimer:
I highly doubt I'll be the mother that tosses her kid a "First Period" or "Aunty Flo's Here!" party.  That would just make it super awkward for everyone.
I learned about puberty and sex ed in elementary school around the age of 11.  We had a school nurse come in to go over the basics, saw some videos and I felt I was quite well informed back in the 90's.
Things and times have changed - but I think it's important to have sex ed in school.
There's a variety of slang and terms these days that did not come across my ears when I was 11!!

I would rather my kids are aware of what they are capable of doing and contracting from having sex at any age and I think making sex "taboo" just increases risks of teen pregnancy, rape and STD's.
But this is entirely based on my opinion and based on my experience as a kid - I would want to have a more open relationship with my kids about these kinds of "sensitive" topics.

Of course she's only 3 and she'll probably forget ever having this chat.  But seeing as she asks me every month what's going on - I'm guessing it'll be fairly permanent eventually!