(Previously blogged on Goodreads 8/27/14)
I remember when my mother told me about sex. I wasn't very old, maybe 5 or 6. I'd been asking her a lot of questions, and rather than avoid me, she bravely drove me out to our small town Wal-Mart and explained everything as we sat in the car in the parking lot.
And I mean, so told me everything.
With drawings on notebook paper.
Yes, it was a little bit of a shock. I was silent for the drive back home and didn't speak to her for the rest of the day.
You mean to tell me that men put THAT in THERE??
Well, fast-forward to now, and I've gotten over my horror. Also, growing up, if I had any questions about sex, I felt like I could comfortably go to my mother, and she'd be open with me. So her telling me at a young age didn't scar me for life or turn me into a nympho.
I think parents should educate their children about sex as soon as the kids show a healthy curiosity about it. If you wait and avoid it, you risk doing more damage than if you gently explain the facts of nature at the time of their curiosity.
Parents who freak out and avoid talking about sex with their kids because it makes them uncomfortable aren't doing their children any favors. The kids are bound to find out from other people and in other ways, and it'd be better if you were the person they came to with questions and not, say, the Internet.
It's the same with educating kids about drinking, too. You can't hide under a blanket and pretend it doesn't exist. They will find out about it, and if they don't have a clear picture of the do's and don't's, they're more apt to figure it out the hard way.
Sex is natural. It can be beautiful part of life. What better person to educate their children than the ones who brought them into this world?
XOXO
Scarlett
I remember when my mother told me about sex. I wasn't very old, maybe 5 or 6. I'd been asking her a lot of questions, and rather than avoid me, she bravely drove me out to our small town Wal-Mart and explained everything as we sat in the car in the parking lot.
And I mean, so told me everything.
With drawings on notebook paper.
Yes, it was a little bit of a shock. I was silent for the drive back home and didn't speak to her for the rest of the day.
You mean to tell me that men put THAT in THERE??
Well, fast-forward to now, and I've gotten over my horror. Also, growing up, if I had any questions about sex, I felt like I could comfortably go to my mother, and she'd be open with me. So her telling me at a young age didn't scar me for life or turn me into a nympho.
I think parents should educate their children about sex as soon as the kids show a healthy curiosity about it. If you wait and avoid it, you risk doing more damage than if you gently explain the facts of nature at the time of their curiosity.
Parents who freak out and avoid talking about sex with their kids because it makes them uncomfortable aren't doing their children any favors. The kids are bound to find out from other people and in other ways, and it'd be better if you were the person they came to with questions and not, say, the Internet.
It's the same with educating kids about drinking, too. You can't hide under a blanket and pretend it doesn't exist. They will find out about it, and if they don't have a clear picture of the do's and don't's, they're more apt to figure it out the hard way.
Sex is natural. It can be beautiful part of life. What better person to educate their children than the ones who brought them into this world?
XOXO
Scarlett
Just found this post. Spot on! In the UK much of the discussion about things like Page 3 is about "protecting the innocence of children". I think what they really mean is having to avoid talking to their children about sex for as long as they possibly can by which time, as you say, it is too late and they get their "information" from other less benevolent sources.
ReplyDeleteThere is a more complex discussion about preparing children for a very sexual world too. Your mother got it just right! Mine did not! Maybe Sophie will chip in as her experience was rather singular!
The only thing Mom did that I wish she hadn't was she is very religious and warned me about sex before marriage. So I had a bit of a complex about it. I did not wait for marriage, but I did wait longer than most women due to this subconscious fear that I'd be hit with a lightning bolt.
DeleteYeah, I'd love to hear Sophie's story!