Dear Abby,
Andrew, my oldest child, has always been a very inquisitive child and I've always handled his questions by answering them very scientifically--I don't give a sugar coated little kid version. I explain it until I can see I'm totally over his head, or we Google the topic for more information.
Being pregnant, with an 8 year old in the house, has led to many questions and discussions which have gotten pretty in depth--that's okay, I'd rather he ask me than some stupid kid at school that will give him some dirty completely inaccurate reply.
So....tonight, the kids wanted breakfast for dinner--eggs and toast for the boys. Ethan, my six year old, asks if there is a yolk in bird eggs, which undoubtedly leads to a discussion about bird eggs vs. human eggs, how the baby bird grows vs. how the babies in my tummy grow, etc.................and then comes the point blank question every parent dreads almost as much as handing over the car keys.
"Mom, how did Dad fertilize the eggs?"
Alrighty then....I pretended not to be shocked (and really I shouldn't have been--he's been asking around it for months). For a moment, I mourned what will be the loss of his childhood innocence, and then I mourned the loss of Colonel Mustard's inside joke about getting a spanking when he's bad.....and then I told Andrew His Dad and I would be happy to have that discussion with him at a later time, but now, at dinner with his little brother and sister present, was not the time.
Ethan replied, "I want to know! I promise I won't make fun of the names of the body parts!"
Been there parents--- PLEASE help me. Is he too young to be completely honest with? How much do I explain? He seems so young, will he be scared for life?
Sincerely,
Knocked up Mom
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6 years ago
4 comments:
Why not tell him? ...you want to be the one he hears it from.
He's ready. It can be awkward, but it has to be done. I did the Big Talk with Hunter just before his 8th bday and Josh was almost 9, if not already 9yo. I have a book about that by Richard and Linda Eyre called How to Talk to your child about sex. Here is a neat link about some views of theirs. http://www.valuesparenting.com/talktokids.php
omg, your pictures are beautiful!! And, this is hilarious b/c I just had the talk with M right before her 10th bday (last fall) b/c she was so inquisitive! so, I'll have to call ya and tell ya about it, it went well. good luck!
Let me know how it goes, but I can tell you that I feel the need to talk with my 9 year old who isn't inquisitive because I think it is time. I think I knew quite a bit by this age.
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