I think that it's safe to say that soon, I'll be having The Birds and the Bees discussion with Juliana. Thank you, Jamie Lynn Spears.
The kid already knows that babies grow in women's bellies. She also knows that you need a man and a woman. She knows that ideally, it's "best" for the parents to be married and in love with each other. She does know that it happens outside of marriage. When I was pregnant with Anneliese, she was satisfied with "Babies are sent to grow in Mommy's belly by God." She knows the body parts of the mother, and where the baby grows, and how the baby is born. So far, that's all she's needed to know.
At school, she heard that Jamie Lynn Spears is pregnant, and it's her boyfriend's. She knows who Jamie Lynn Spears is because of the TV show on Nickelodeon, and she knows that she's Britney's kid sister. It was interesting to see Juliana's reaction. She was disappointed, but not surprised because "she's Britney sister, Mom, and Britney is not a good role model!" Out of the mouths of babes, I'm telling you. But that led into a discussion about getting pregnant, and her questions are becoming a bit more mechanical in nature. I diverted the conversation a bit by asking her how she thinks women get pregnant. She said "I know you need a mom and a dad." Then she lost interest and walked away.
Now, I know some of the misconceptions that children have when trying to figure things like this out. I'm pretty certain that I NEVER had The Birds and the Bees discussion with my own parents. I had to figure things out on my own through what we were taught in school and what was on TV and if I happened to find some literature on the subject. I don't want for Juliana to have to "figure things out" nor do I want her to get confused by things she may hear from classmates. The boy I babysit for apparently knows the mechanics, because he uses terms like "humping" when describing how his cat is in heat, and he made some allusions to sex the other day in regard to babies and pregnancy. So I think I may have to sit her down and explain mechanics very soon, because I really can't expect other kids to keep quiet about it until she and I are ready for The Talk.
But for crying out loud, she's only SEVEN!
2 comments:
I think I learned about mechanics when I was eight or nine, but I didn't really "grasp" them until I was about 14, which was when I saw my first porno and was scared to death. 3 months later, however, I lost my virginity.
I really don't know what point I'm trying to make, but I think that Juliana seems like a very smart, mature little girl and her age is not entire relevant here in light of that.
Natalie hasn't asked mechanical questions yet, thankfully. Just basically how the baby gets there and I said that daddies plant the seeds that meet with the mommy's egg and it grows a baby. She seemed satisfied. The next year or two shall be interesting. lol
I never had the Birds and the Bee's talk with my parents. I wish they had had a conversation with me. I had experienced my first O at the age of 5, and never knew what the heck it was. Not up until I lost my virginity did I know that it was in fact the big O. I was also molested at 5, and could have also used some explaining then as I had definately had different things pointed out to me negatively.
I really like the way you've explained it so far, and plan on steeling every single bit of it! lol And yes, my god seven sounds so young...and 28 sounds sooo old :)
Jackie
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