04 May 1996

Got penis?

About a week after Bean-Girl was born, her umbilical chord dried up and fell off. This worried Pod-Man a great deal, since he had something that stuck out there that he very much did not want to dry up and fall off. We explained to him that nothing was wrong, that his umbilical chord had already fallen off, and that there was nothing “missing” from Bean-Girl. Pod-Man was only about two-and-a-half at the time, and he was very unclear of the concept that boys had penises and girls did not, so he took to asking people about it. One Sunday afternoon my friend Don came over. Pod-Man answered the door and pointed right at Don’s crotch, asking:

Pod-Man: Have a penis?

Don: No thanks, I already have one.