If you’ve read my book you know I’ve had “The Talk” with Aubrey, my oldest, about a dozen times. She was four-years-old when Sadie was born and while little two-year-old Emma was unwrapping her new baby to look at her toes, Aubrey was jumping up and down on the bed yelling, “HOW DID SHE GET OUT?! HOW DID SHE GET OUT?! HOW DID SHE GET OUT?! HOW DID SHE GET OUT?! HOW DID SHE GET OUT?! “
Aubrey, at the ripe old age of eight, has known the down and dirty for a looooooong time. In addition, she’s learned a few bad words over the last year that we have discussed ad nauseum. Every time she learns a new word at school she comes home and tells me. I tell her what it means and that if she says it at school she will be in deep, um, well… sh*t. *ahem*
A man I respect a WHOLE lot has said that these days you should have “The Talk” with your kids before second grade to make sure that they are getting their first bits of information about sex from you instead of some kid on the playground. I’ve been looking for opportunities to talk about this with Emma since she is in first grade, but the child is so sweet and innocent! She’s curious but she’d rather disassemble the pencil sharpener to see how it works than to wonder where babies come from. An opportunity hasn’t presented itself so I’ve been reluctant to give her extra information.
After school today, Emma perched on the kitchen counter while I cooked dinner and chattered away. She spoke of Valentine’s Day and a certain little boy’s name she had been writing in hearts on the back of her worksheet. (Sidebar– a totally different little boy than the one she said she was going to marry last week. #WorriedAboutThisOne)
Then out of the blue she said, “Somebody said The Aff word at school today!”
Me: Whaaaaa?
Her eyes got big, “YOU KNOW… The AFF word!!”
Me: The Eff Word?
She nodded.
Me: Oh? In your class?
Her: No. In another class.
Me: How do you know they said it?
Her: I heard it! (She beamed.) I have GREAT ears!
I snickered, “Oh… well, then. Do you know what The Eff Word is?”
She nodded her white blond head. “Yup.”
I don’t know why I did this. Y’all!? WHY did I ask? I don’t think I really believed her, so I said, “What is it?”
And that sweet innocent little baby looked me straight in the eye, with her index finger halfway up her nose, and said, “F***.” Matter-of-factly. Nonchalant. No biggie.
I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. I turned my face away from her and let out an all purpose snort. I turned back to her with a straight face.
Me: Who told you that?
Her: Aubrey.
(I was FILLED WITH A FIERY RAGE which she saw in my face.)
Me: Oh. Did she tell you what it means?
Her: Nope.
She looked scared.
(Deep breath. I gave her a hug.)
Me: You aren’t in trouble. I want you to talk to me about this stuff, okay? Did she at least tell you how bad it is?
Her: Oh YES! It’s the worst! The MOTHER! The Queen Mother! The F Dash Dash Dash word!! The worst word in the whole world!
I nodded my head. “Right. And it means having sex. Do you know what that is?”
Her: Uh-uh.
Sweet Baby Jesus. Help me, help me, help me.
I cleared my throat. “Um well…” I launched into a brief but thorough AND anatomically correct description. Her eyes got huge. I took another deep breath.
“Do you have any questions?”
She shook her head, ” Um, NO. This is weird, gross, funny… and a little confusing.”
Me: Agreed.
Then my husband came and picked up all three girls to take them to church so I could do this podcast interview. Fingers crossed she doesn’t tell everyone in her class what she just learned.
When did you talk to your kids about sex? How’d that work out for ya?
ALSO if y’all could vote for me in this contest I would really appreciate it! Scroll down to my name and click the button to vote. That’s it! Two clicks!
amber says
Love your sweet sweet girls! Growing up spool fast! Voted for you in contest. thanks for letting us in on your fun life!
Mary-Leah Moore says
My daughter asked me about sex when she was the ripe old age of ten. They were doing “health” at school and she had some questions – the first of which was about oral sex! WTF? So, we had “the talk,” after which she said “That’s SO gross!” A week later she asked me if Santa was real. The irony was not lost on me.
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Robin says
Bless that babies heart.
Kelly says
This was awesome. I wish you had posted this a few weeks ago…I could have used it when my 7 year old brought up “the deed” at the dinner table. I kinda sucked at dealing with it. Here’s my post about it: http://areyoufinishedyet.wordpress.com/2013/01/23/like-a-rolling-stone/
P.S. I really enjoy your blog. Hilarious moms are the best.
Amy says
My husband and I don’t have a lock on our bedroom door, so I’m concerned the conversation with our kindergartner is going to happen more, how should I say, organically than I would like.
I am already practicing keeping a straight face for the day the eff word needs to be discussed with my kids. I suspect it will be horrifying and hilarious. You handled it with a grace and practicality that I’m sure I won’t be able to pull off!
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Bridget says
O.M.G.
I think that this may be the second best blog post in the history of blog posts.
I am sure you will all agree that nothing can beat The Bloggess’s Beyonce the Giant Metal Chicken post. But this….this is a firm and forever second in my book!!!
Bridget recently posted..A beautiful distraction
Leslie says
We stopped at 7-Eleven to change out of our suits after a day at the beach, and I took my 7-year-old son in with me. I was in the stall and he was waiting patiently by the sink when he asked if he could have money for the “candy machine” on the wall. I said it wasn’t candy. The conversation continued until we got to the point that they were used for sex. I asked if he knew what sex meant. (as I silently prayed for strength and words hiding inside my stall). He answered, “Well if you already had a baby and you don’t know, I’m not going to be the one explaining it to you.” I just left it alone that day. Sometimes there’s only so much you can get through with a serious face.
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Erin says
I can only hope that I can keep my composure like you do when discussing this with my girls. Man, my oldest is 6 and she still thinks boys are gross. As much as I would like it to stay that way, I know it won’t. Their daddy sucks at discussing real life issues so I am sure this will default to me when the time arises. I just hope it’s not anytime soon!