By Heather O.

1. You can’t keep the potty words away for ever. The only redeeming quality that book has is that boys love it. I wondered why my 1st grade son did not love to read like his twin sister. Turns out I just hadn’t found the right books. Embrace the series, he will learn to love reading and then you can steer his choices to more fulfilling books with less potty jokes. (In truth I had to keep from giggling myself while reading a few of them)

   Comment #1 by JoleneAugust 22nd, 2007 at 10:13 am

2. my boys LOVE that series. even though they’re WAY beyond it level-wise, they still think its so fun. now i get why this is called the ‘anal-fixation’ stage. warning though, after a few dozen uses, the flip-o-rama pages will just fall out of the book.

   Comment #2 by AlisonAugust 22nd, 2007 at 10:36 am

3. We have them. My girls love them. Even my youngest who can barely read his own name likes looking at them.

   There is even a certain pair of twins who shall remain nameless but who your son beat up (accidentally, of course) who love them. It’s very normal and somebody made a lot of money writing this crap.

   Comment #3 by The WizAugust 22nd, 2007 at 11:00 am

4. Crap?

   You guys make it sound like there’s something wrong with potty humor.

   Captain Underpants rules!

   Comment #4 by Susan MAugust 22nd, 2007 at 11:09 am

5. “On a happier note, my next door neighbor taught my little angel the word “fart”, as well as several actions he can do to produce the proper sound effects on demand. Lovely.”

   My son goes to a language-immersion magnet school. Though his classes were exclusively in Japanese, he has recess with kids who are immersed in Spanish, French, German, and Mandarin.

   Result of all this multi-cultural experience? He now knows all the potty words and a few non-translatable ones in six languages. Zut Alors.

   Comment #5 by Chad TooAugust 22nd, 2007 at 12:00 pm

6. Watch out for so-called “wedgie power”. Captain Underpants was a hit with our 4 y.o. son. I banished it forever, but it still took a few months for DS to move on to a new favorite phrase.

   Comment #6 by Mrs MAugust 22nd, 2007 at 12:49 pm

7. I was less than enthusiastic about this series of books, but Captain Underpants really got my son into reading when he was in 1st grade. It also inspired him to start writing his own stories, none of which contained any potty humor. He has since moved on to bigger and better things–Series of Unfortunate Events, Eragon/Eldest, Harry Potter, to name a few. But his favorite all time book is still Call of the Wild, which he read in second grade–it didn’t take him long to figure out there were far more interesting things to read out there. So don’t worry!

   Comment #7 by lbsAugust 22nd, 2007 at 2:09 pm

8. My son loves the Captain Underpants series and they have increased his interest in reading far more than anything else. He is a happy, polite, well-adjusted, kind-hearted, faith-filled kid who never uses vulgar language and takes his own scriptures to church with him every week.

   So Heather, I’m going to give you a little advice that might not sound friendly at first, but I assure you it is, and I speak from serious experience here. Lighten Up! Your boy is a BOY. He’s not a little princess. He’s hard-wired to like mud and bugs and guns and car crashes and potty humor. You can’t change this. You’ll only hurt him if you try. So don’t be so prudish. Let him like what he likes. Something as benign as Captain Underpants won’t “infect” him. If you have the faints over something this innocent, you’re going to have multiple heart attacks later on with other hard-wired stuff when he’s older. Don’t try to make him into something he’s not. Don’t try to feminize him or make him feel bad for being what he is. There is far too much of that in society today (see. e,g, Christina Summers’ excellent book “The War Against Boys”).

   With all due respect, too many in the Church get almost hysterical about anything involving the body or its functions that I think perspective can be lost (e.g. the obsession with skirt and sleeve lengths as if they alone constituted true modesty. How Pharisaiacal). Our bishop recently met with all the parents in the ward for a very frank talk about raising teenagers in today’s sex-saturated society, and his mere use of the word “sex” in the chapel (blasphemy!) brought gasps from the group. Mostly mostly from the sisters. But there’s a huge difference between Captain Underpants’ silliness and the truly ugly things in life we should all be on our guard against. And which we shouldn’t be afraid to talk about! My son has a very healthy and mature attitude toward the body, its functions, its proper care, and the respect we should give to it. If anything, Captain Underpants has helped him become a lot more comfortable and at ease with all of that.

   So Heather, look at this as an opportunity. A chance for you to train yourself to be more easy-going and to get ready for the bigger challenges ahead as your son grows up. A chance to learn not to sweat the small stuff, to keep your blood pressure down and your worry-meter from overheating. A chance to show your son you love him by letting him be who and what he is without trying to “fix” him. Guys HATE that. Even little guys.

   Comment #8 by JCAugust 22nd, 2007 at 2:58 pm

9. My ds is only three months old, but this post is getting me concerned about what is to come. I want my son to love reading, but I certainly don’t want him to be gross or crude. I know boys will be boys, but is it really a good thing to encourage them to be disgusting? I don’t know anything about these books, but I hope he gets his kicks out of good books.

   Comment #9 by AndreaAugust 22nd, 2007 at 7:02 pm

10. JC-

    I have a car full of sticks that double as lasers, lightsabers, swords, guns, and ninja paraphenalia. I have a dress up box full of masks, homemade and store bought capes, and various superhero costumes. My kid imagines all kinds of scenarios that he acts out in the outdoors with his friends, and is constantly getting scraped, bruised, and filthy from his variety of intense activity. He bathes almost every night,not because I am a neat freak, but because his bed would be full of sand, dirt, and mud if he did not. I constantly find legos in my bed, and rocks in my dryer. I am not, I repeat, NOT high strung about his boyness.

    I am not trying to “fix” anything. I am just hoping not to have my kid running around making farting noises all the time. And, seeing as it took a long time for him to stop running around in his own underpants, I am also trying not to regress to the days when I had to keep him from flashing the neighborhood. I also think that there are other ways to get kids excited about reading than showing them comic books with the main character who identifies himself as “Mr. Poopypants”.

    I’m just saying that I am unimpressed with this book. That said, I’m sure my kid will love it, and I’m sure I will let him read it. But you can be sure that I will be reading him other more sophisticated material, too.

    Comment #10 by Heather O.August 23rd, 2007 at 3:30 am

11. Oh, and as far as keeping my blood pressure down, I have medicine for that, thanks.

    Comment #11 by Heather O.August 23rd, 2007 at 3:32 am

12. Tom Sawyer joined the Order of Cadets of Temperance and promised not to drink, smoke or swear as long as he remained a member. He then found out that “to promise not to do a thing [and, I would add, to forbid someone to do a thing, especially when they don’t understand the reason for it] is the surest way in the world to make a body want to go and do that very thing.” He resigned from the club so he could drink, smoke and swear at will, “but found to his surprise that he did not want to. The simple fact that he could, took the desire away, and the charm of it.”

    Tom Sawyer was absolutely right, dear sisters. If in what I accept as total good faith and good intentions you make a fuss about Captain Underpants or your boys being “disgusting” once in a while or laughing as they make farting noises, you will accomplish three things. First, you will teach them that there are things they like to do that must be kept hidden from Mom, so they will learn how to hide things from you. Second, you will teach them that there are things about their divinely created bodies that are dirty and shameful. And third, as Tom Sawyer rightly observed, you will make them want to do these things all the more solely because you have forbidden them. No behavior I’ve seen mentioned anywhere in any post here is sinful, it’s just objectionable to some mothers’ particular sensitivities.

    My kids went through the same thing, the Captain Underpants books, making the farting noises with hands under arms (actually, one of my daughters is the champion and is much better than her brother), all of that and more, and we all just laughed about it. We simply chose to take it all in stride, while also letting them know that such humor is out of place sometimes. Result? They outgrew it all very fast. They have no propensity to be gratuitously “disgusting.” They use no foul language. They have moved on to much better quality literature. They have healthy, well-adjusted attitudes toward their bodies and how they work. They are not prudes. They are not easily shocked or offended. And they are smart, kind, charitable, well-behaved kids who love the gospel. So pick your battles carefully, moms, and be very careful of what you end up teaching your kids as a result.

    Comment #12 by JCAugust 23rd, 2007 at 5:02 am

13. Had 3 little boys(now 3 grown men). Trust me when I say, yes, they turned everything into a gun or a sword and yes, they loved sophmoric humour.

    That aside we found a happy medium as with other “taboo” (in certain arenas) subjects. I it is very important to be able to talk openly with our kids, however they also need to be taught when certain topics, subjects, even humour is best left for “our house”.

    Don’t underestimate little people as far as being able to choose when and where they can be totally silly and when it is time to chill. They can do it. They do it already. If you look at your little ones they know when you have had enough just by your look and stop certain behaviours in church, school, or the grocery. It is the same with potty humour or whatever. Let them know it is fine great cool whatever here and here, but never in front of ________ or during________. You can even have a code word or sentence that tells the offspring “enough”. “Did you see that cat?” or whatever. They hear that and know it is time to change the subject.

    They’ll get it. You’ll be the funny mom you want to be, but also the teacher mom you should be.

    Comment #13 by s'meeAugust 23rd, 2007 at 6:22 am

14. For crying out loud, JC, you make it sound like if I think Captain Underpants is lame and inappropriate that I’m dooming my child to a lifetime of bad behavior. Let me give you a little advice that might not sound friendly at first, but I assure it is. Lighten up, and don’t get your blood pressure boiling when you hear mothers express their disapproval of fart jokes. It’s all a part of the mothering process. Don’t try to “fix” us. Mothers hate that.

    Comment #14 by Heather O.August 23rd, 2007 at 6:57 am

15. I’m a 34 year old male and I love Captain Underpants! I’ve read them all several times with my oldest son and look forward to the next book as much as my wife and daughter anticipated each new Harry Potter novel.

    Comment #15 by endlessnegotiationAugust 23rd, 2007 at 7:17 am

16. LOL! Fair enough, Heather. I dish it out, I should be able to take it. Forgive me if I seemed over the top. Understand also that I have seen many moms in the Church who really do go into serious hysterics over innocent stuff like this, and I’ve heard lots of guys in the Church saying how they resented it, sometimes for years afterward; this was the background for my responses. For the record, I think s’mee’s post is spot-on.

    Comment #16 by JCAugust 23rd, 2007 at 9:10 am

17. All righty then! And I agree that s’mee’s comment was a good one.

    Comment #17 by Heather O.August 23rd, 2007 at 9:40 am

18. I have never read Captain Underpants. But now I want to & I want my boys to read it also. I KNOW they will get a kick out of it!

    I still giggle with the kids when the ketchup “farts” at dinnertime.

    Comment #18 by Natalie S.August 23rd, 2007 at 10:37 am

19. As a mother, I reserve the right to ban things from my home if I find them offensive or inappropriate or even just because they annoy the crud out of me. Also, not all kids respond the same way to the same things whether it be a book or video game or tv show or whatever. What has ill effects for some may not affect another at all. My son was allowed to read Captain Underpants (I even bought a few for him through school book orders), but he never mimicked or used the potty humor parts to a degree that bothered me. (And in my house “fart” is the “f word”.) If something is encouraging a behavior in my child that I feel uncomfortable with (beyond mild annoyance and eye rolling), then I remove it. Shouldn’t we all feel free to do the same regardless of what other families are doing?

    Comment #19 by lbsAugust 23rd, 2007 at 12:35 pm

20. Heather, I’m in your boat on this one. We have enough “natural” potty humor around here to invite the, eh, literary kind.

    Comment #20 by Tracy MAugust 23rd, 2007 at 1:11 pm

21. I sympathize with the “fart” problem. I’m still dealing with the fact that my husband’s kids taught my handicapped daughter (who says very little that is understandable to others) to say:

    Go away!
    Shut up!
    Come here!

    Though I am the guilty one responsible for:
    Oh Shxx!

    (Which, of course, I never, never, never, say!)

    Comment #21 by Susan SAugust 23rd, 2007 at 3:37 pm

22. My 7 yr old son would get a kick out of Captain Underpants and so would my husband and my 5 yr old son. I however have may a concious decision NOT to let them know this book exsists…..YET. However I am running out of good books that my son loves. So if any of you know of a good book or series that a 7 year old boy would love to read PLEASE recommend.

    BTW if you want a fun book for boys may I recommend the “Grossology” book. Educational and…well…Gross!!!! They LOVE it and you learn about your body.

    Comment #22 by LeiGulAugust 23rd, 2007 at 4:45 pm

23. I think Captain Underpants actually has great literary style (nice sentence cadences and effective repetitions, etc.,) and it uses lots of fun and clever wordplay. They are witty books and they’ve made me a fan of Dav Pilkey. I definitely think a Mom has the right to ban potty talk within her hearing and ought to ban it in public, but I think it’s very important to make it clear that it’s because you don’t like it or because it’s not appropriate in a specific context, rather than because it’s “bad.”

    My beautiful 7-year-old daughter, the one who shines at school and knows all the right answers at church, is the biggest potty talker at our house (although our 3-year-old daughter also thinks it’s high comedy to add “poopy diaper” to the end of every sentence) Sometimes the 7-year-old makes her 10-year-old brother laugh hysterically, but other times he is grossed out and will beg her to stop. He does like Captain Underpants, but my Mom once well-meaningly bought him a gag-gift of a rubber severed finger, and he was horrified — he could not imagine what kind of Grandma would give such a nasty gift. (I guess my point here is that you never know what kids will like or dislike.)

    Comment #23 by Zina WAugust 23rd, 2007 at 6:04 pm

24. my mom gets very upset with me when i, as a full-fledged adult, say things like, “oh, crap.” i have such hangups that i can’t even bring myself to TYPE the f-word… we grew up calling it “passing gas.” what happens when you drink the water in tijuana? you get “lower digestive upset.” my mom’s just THAT type of lady. we don’t even call it a bathroom, it’s a RESTROOM.

    but she called me the other day, giggling hysterically, to tell me that her new name was “snotty pottytush.” huh? seems she’d stumbled upon this website: http://www.skypaint.com/gavin/underpants.html

    Comment #24 by makakonaAugust 23rd, 2007 at 8:59 pm

25. Nice site, Makakona. My name is Cheeseball Burgerchunks.

    Comment #25 by Heather O.August 24th, 2007 at 4:44 am

26. I’m Lumpy Monkeychunks

    Comment #26 by StarababaAugust 24th, 2007 at 4:57 am

27. Nice. I’m Zippy Pizzafanny.

    Comment #27 by Natalie S.August 24th, 2007 at 5:40 am

28. I’m Gidget Hamstertush
    DH is Doofus Hamstertush
    DS is the same as DH
    dd is Crusty Hamstertush

    Comment #28 by moddyAugust 24th, 2007 at 6:37 am

29. I’ve wondered about those books. Do I want to get them because I know my boys will crack up and I love witnessing that? Or am I a glutton for punishment?

    My three boys are already into potty talk, which drives me batty. Though I remember a time when we were in the van and the boys were potty talking and my DH and I started in with them and it was so fun! It actually got it out of their system for a while, so I’m thinking the books will be just the thing to get them out of the current phase.

    Comment #29 by NuttyAugust 24th, 2007 at 10:32 am

30. Those who like Capt Underpants, will probably like these two children’s books at Amazon. Yes, these are legitimate children’s books. And actually rated high among Amazon sellers.

    The Gas We Pass

    and

    Everyone Poops.

    Comment #30 by BookslingerAugust 25th, 2007 at 9:48 am

31. My boys (now 19 and 17) loved the humor of Captain Underpants, often laughing uncontrollably while reading. It (along with a few other series that I might have preferred they skip over but didn’t object to) got them reading at a time when they weren’t very interested in reading. They went through this phase relatively quickly. They both are fun-loving, well-adjusted, kind young men who love the humor found in life and know there is an appropriate time and place for everything.

    A lot of these types of phases come and go, and usually our kids are none the worse for them. Some kids love this type of humor; others find it disgusting. Most of these things don’t have a definite right or wrong, just what you and your kids are comfortable with.

    I look at it as part of the parenting process. We help them learn what/where/why things are/aren’t appropriate, and help them navigate their development of self. The discussions we can have with our kids in these situations helps them discover who they want to be, what values are important to them, the type of friend they want to be and to have, and how they view life. Not a bad compromise for some mom-viewed potty-mouth and some kid-viewed humor.

    Comment #31 by Michelle AMAugust 26th, 2007 at 5:31 pm

Leave a Reply