Birds and the bees

[spotty_dog]

Oh yes, we've skirted around "why don't chicken eggs have baby chickens in them" for a long time too! Spaying and neutering pets is another topic that brings the question right up to the surface (but I don't think they've expressed it explicitly.) Their interest in anatomy doesn't bug me, we've talked plenty about vulvas and birth canals, wombs and testicles. We do make it very clear that private parts -- anything covered by a bathing suit -- are private, and that they are for their OWNERS to touch, or sometimes for parents and doctors to check out WITH permission, and that if people ask for privacy when they're naked they should be respected.

I've looked through the book again and I'm really thinking of just bringing it out this evening to share and discuss. Everything except the chapter on "bad touches" and the chapter on HIV/AIDS is relevant, and it covers things in a very light and kid-friendly manner. Will report back.

[TulipsAndSunscreen]

C is not yet 4. It's already started. "How does the baby get out?" "How does the baby get in?" "Does that happen EVERY time you and Daddy do that?" OMG, we don't need to discuss contraception at 3.5 years old kid!!!!!!!

[spotty_dog]

C is not yet 4. It's already started. "How does the baby get out?" "How does the baby get in?" "Does that happen EVERY time you and Daddy do that?" OMG, we don't need to discuss contraception at 3.5 years old kid!!!!!!!

Yikes! I guess I was lucky that each answer kept mine quiet for a while. They wanted to know how baby eats and drinks (umbilical cord), how baby gets out (birth canal), how baby is made (cell from a man and cell from a woman). It really took them until 8.5 to start pondering how the connection actually gets made! He's guessed "surgery" and "science doesn't yet know."

[oceanchild]

My not quite 2.5-year-old is constantly asking me whether I have a penis, and what I have instead. I wasn't even ready for that!