"The Talk"
If this was set up in the world of Maggie, I would structure this talk in a very laidback way. The scenario being that the mother and child be in a setting of nature. The child randomly coming home on a sunny spring day from middle school and asking "Mom, where do we come from? How does the process really work. Please, lets get down in the nitty gritty of it because I am very curious." The mother would be so down, because, let's all face it, this a day that marks the books in its own innocent way. The mother and child would go outside on a long walk, maybe go to the park, or a bike ride- something along the lines. The mother would say "Well, sweetie, two people fall in love and create something so very beautiful by being passionate. They get passionatie and make love on their own terms and in private. Biologically, a male and females parts being intimate together make a baby. That baby is planted in the woman's body and grows over a period of time." Of course that would be in a perfect world, and that would be very slim because the child is going to catch you off guard. I think it naturally flows through us humans and we tell it in our own special way and make it special for the child.
I am going to share my story on how I learned about where humans came from. I came from a strict Catholic home. I went to a private school and we had a class called "Gifts and Promises" in 5th grade.This religous structured class talked about where babies came from. My teacher never mentioned the word sex, vagina, or penis. This class talked about how God has everything planned for every single one of us in His own special way. Everything was referred to a Bible verse on how this Earth came about. In our household, sex was never talked about it seemed and very taboo, which is a little strange, I know. I have two older sisters and an older brother. My sisters were very curious and gained their own knowledge on a deeper level of sex and intimacy. Their knowledge got passed down to me and we would talk about it and chuckle.
Hi Margaret,
ReplyDeleteLooks like you and I have the same type of family environment. In my home, we never talk about sex. I was so curious about sex education. I have also elder brother and sister. They learned in school and passed me their knowledge.
Hey Maggie,
ReplyDeleteI understand what you mean about sex being a major taboo at home. I am the oldest of three sisters and I had the talk from my mom when I was 16, but my mom was very G rated and I hardly knew what she was talking about. She didn't use any sex ed words like vagina, penis..etc I actually learned "where babies come from" 4 years before our "talk" in Science class in the 6th grade and I remember thinking how gross that was! :P And its true that I learned most about sex from the media and honestly that's pretty bad. I think its really important that our parents tell us early on what sex is the right way before we turn to our friends or the media which is very skewed. My mom said the reason she didn't want to be too "graphic" was to keep my innocence and I totally understand that, but I don't think parents know or get that sex seems to start bombarding on kids at an early age and kids need to be better equipped with knowledge and openness from their parents for their own well being.
I believe that the talk can be more beneficial if parents choose to do it in a way that is structures around a positive activity. A family activity is the perfect way to begin the talk. Your idea of doing the talk like going to the park or for a bike ride is great. When I have children, I would prefer to give the talk in this manner. Also, I believe in using proper terms. I would not "sugarcoat" it with g-rated words. When my child asks me, I want to be straight forward and poignant with them. I believe this develops a sense of trust. It should be a family deal that should have its comical moments.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the major sex talk being at home. I also love your scenario. If it was that easy to most teenagers then I think everybody would have The Talk. But nowadays teenagers are scared to talk about it or its to late. So i totally agree with this.
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