Lately I have been wondering how I will tackle the inevitable question that all parents get asked by their young children:
Where do babies come from?
My parents will be the first to admit that I was an unusual child. Always preferring books over other children, and never having to be reminded to go study, do my homework, practice the piano, etc, I am told that I hardly ever asked my parents or other adults questions about the curiosities of life. Rather, I chose to seek out the answers myself (usually in a book).
And when I could not discover the answer myself…
I went ahead and devised my own theories.
So before being instructed on the birds and the bees by fellow classmates during a traumatizing recess period in the third grade, I believed that pregnancy was a disease that only women can catch.
How did one “catch” this disease?
By eating infected watermelon seeds!
As such, I was very careful about never, ever swallowing watermelon seeds. 🙂
(image source)
I know that as parents, it is J and my job to instruct our children about sex, and that having a healthy and open conversation with them about it will be better for them in the long run.
(That being said, if J has his way our daughters will remain pure and virginal forever, never having to find out a thing about sex or boys. 😉 )
I want to be honest with my kids and not give them a B.S. response when they ask me difficult questions. At the same time, I do know that some truths are inappropriate for young children, i.e., telling them anything more graphic than “When a mommy and a daddy love each other very much…” may be traumatizing.
Luckily, we still have at least a few more years until we need to devise a plan of action.
Before you knew about sex, where did you think (or were told) babies came from?
What do you believe is the best way to tell a young child about sex and the origin of babies?
