The Birds and the Bees

I had a conversation with a friend the other day about how and when to introduce this topic to our kids. We all have our own personal experiences to draw on and we can decide whether or not to approach the topic the same way our parents did or not. I don't remember my parents ever giving me "the talk." My friend said that by the time her parents sat her down, she told them to not even go there because she already knew everything and was way to embarrassed to talk about it with them.

Based on the way we (my siblings and I) treat our poor parents, I think we have taken a huge swing away from modesty and privacy about personal issues and just blurt things out. I don't know that that is necessarily right either... Like the time I was pulling something hot out of the top level of my mom's double decker oven and exclaimed, "I almost burned my nipples!" causing both of my parents to hang their heads in disbelief (and a slight smirk I might add) over the statement.

Anyhoo, Cliff and I have decided that we want to make things not a big deal. This has, on occasion, mortified our friends who have chosen for their children to name certain body parts "woo wings", or "ling-a-longs" or "cha-cha's" or names I can't remember exactly. :) I think a few of their kids may have learned the actual words for a few things from our kids... Sorry friends! And let me just add that I don't think code words are wrong! Every family should have their own ways of doing things and instructing their children.

But for us it works. We hope that by making sex and body parts not a huge hush-hush issue, it will take out some of the shame that the world has wrongly brought into it. It does make for some funny moments though, I will say.

Today as we were walking to the park Mason was hunting for some insects. He happened upon a couple of insects on the sidewalk. He yelled, "I found 2 Box Elders fighting!" (Pause) "Wait. They are stuck together at their bottoms." (Kaiah giggles at the mention of the word bottom) Then Mason says, "I think they are actually mating! Hey Kaiah, these bugs are mating! I've never seen a bug do that in real life, only on the nature shows!" (Pause) "I don't think I'm going to capture these two. They are in a situation. I think I'll leave them alone."

I love that they can feel that it is a cool process and that they know that God created it that way. I hope the kids continue to share their life observations with us and continue to ask questions as they discover more. Because God did create sex to be beautiful when it is practiced within His protective boundaries of safety for our own good.