PLAYING WITH HIS PENIS

David thought nothing of grabbing and playing with his penis--anytime, anywhere. A boy's public relationship with his penis is something that has made many mothers wince, including me. But the male brain's reward center gets such a huge surge of pleasure from penis stimulation that it's nearly impossible for boys to resist, no matter what their parents threaten. So rather than trying to stop David, I suggested Jessica start teaching him to explore this compelling pleasure in the privacy of his room.

A few weeks after Jessica started trying to get David to play with his penis in "privacy," the family went on vacation. As they were walking down the hallway in their hotel, David saw a sign hanging on the doorknob of the room next-door and asked, "Mom, what does P-R-I-V-A-C-Y say?" When Jessica said the word out loud for him, he said, "Oh, that man must be doing his privacy in there." From then on, he'd refer to playing with his penis as "doing my privacy."