Must be prepared!

Last week, the boys and I were eating a quick dinner before having to jet off to basketball practice. The husband was out of town on a boys' ski trip so Tee and I were taking the boys to practice.

In the middle of a bite of my pizza, Jay asks how babies get in bellies. Oh my gosh, I was so not ready or prepared for this question. After I picked my mouth up off the floor, I was able to answer him. I explained that it was a great question but one that we did not have time to answer right then and that we would wait for Dad to be present to discuss.

A little part of me was hoping that the question would be forgotten and we would be off the hook. But my mind could not let go of being able to talk to my kids about this very important subject (so that they don't learn from friends).

As soon as the husband returned, I informed him of his need to prepare for this very important discussion. We didn't know how far we should or wanted to take this yet. But at the same time, Jay is very inquisitive and likes to ask questions.

So I asked some of my Mommy friends who have older children. One friend said she had a talk with her daughter in third grade. She had her read the book, What is the big s*cret. Then if her daughter had questions they would talk about it.

The next day I went to the book store and asked the nice young book store worker to point me in the direction to "the" books. He ended up sending me over to the young kids book where there is a section of "growing up" books. There I found the book mentioned above along with another book called something like the amazing body. I then got another book from Laura B*rman regarding the subject. This book has more information as your child gets older as well.

So I have my arsenal of books. The husband and I talked again and we were unsure how far to take the conversation. We were just sure that they would not be satisfied with just the basic information.

I then had a conversation with another neighbor who has older boys along with a third grade boy. She said we were stressing and making too much of it. That all he needed to know was the basic, the seed and the egg. She was sure that they would not take it further.

The boys kept asking the question, so we finally sat them down and discussed. Dad took care of the explanation. They listened to the explanation. Jay then says, Mom that didn't take 5 minutes to explain. The boys were getting off the bed and leaving just as I opened my mouth. I told them if they had any questions they needed to come to us. Why I had to say anything at all I don't know. They then asked how the seed and egg meet. Does it just happen when you get married? Does everyone have to have a baby? So we did the worst thing a parent could do and really brushed the questions off.

Yes, I do think this subject will come up again. But I do think that 3rd grade is just too young to know too many details. I do want our kids to know that they can and should come to us for information. So before long we will start these conversations in a little more detail.......