One night when our daughter was 5 and our son was 3, my husband was giving the kids a bath. Over the sound of splashing, I heard Sabrina say, “Dad, Kaitlyn S. told me that in France, people kiss with their tongues. Is that true?”
My husband — at that time a Navy officer in charge of running not one, but two nuclear plants on an aircraft carrier — faintly replied, “I don’t know. You’d better go ask your mother.”
Then he pulled the drain plug, wrapped Sabrina in a towel, and sent her off to see me.
I believe in answering my children’s questions honestly. I also believe in giving my husband a hard time whenever I get the chance. So I told Sabrina, “Go tell your dad that not only do people kiss like that in France, they kiss like that right here in the United States!”
As she padded off down the hall, I realized it would clearly be my job to teach our kids about sex. Fortunately, I have found some wonderful books to help.
When the kids were younger, I read the books aloud, and our discussion grew from there. We started with a very sweet DK book by Angela Royston, WHERE DO BABIES COME FROM: A DELIGHTFUL FIRST LOOK AT HOW LIFE BEGINS. This book, appropriate for preschoolers and up, discusses how life begins using mostly plants and animals as examples, leading to a gentle discussion of human reproduction that focuses more on how babies grow and are cared for than on conception.
Through the years, we’ve continued to use books to keep “the talk” going. Although my kids are now in middle school, I don’t just hand books to them and send them on their way. We sit down and read through the pages together, stopping to discuss what we read. Two of our favorite sex-ed books, suitable for kids 10 and up, provide plenty of laughs along with detailed information about puberty and reproduction: HAIR IN FUNNY PLACES and MOMMY LAID AN EGG, both by Babette Cole.
One caveat: Some parents may find the somewhat graphic drawings in Cole’s books controversial. We found them accurate enough to be informative and cartoon-ish enough to keep us in our comfort zone. Whichever resources I find to teach our kids about sex, I always preview them carefully to make sure they suit our family’s values.
Other books we have found useful are:
# IT’S PERFECTLY NORMAL: A BOOK ABOUT CHANGING BODIES, GROWING UP, SEX, AND SEXUAL HEALTH by Robie H. Harris
# THE PERIOD BOOK: EVERYTHING YOU DON’T WANT TO ASK (BUT NEED TO KNOW) by Karen Gravelle
# WHAT’S GOING ON DOWN THERE? ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BOYS FIND HARD TO ASK by Karen Gravelle
The books we’ve found over the years have helped us avoid the one-time-only variety of “the talk” I had as a kid. These books have helped keep our family’s lines of communication open, so our kids will feel comfortable asking questions whenever they arise.
One night when our daughter was 5 and our son was 3, my husband was giving the kids a bath. Over the sound of splashing, I heard Sabrina say, “Dad, Kaitlyn S. told me that in France, people kiss with their tongues. Is that true?”
My husband — at that time a Navy officer in charge of running not one, but two nuclear plants on an aircraft carrier — faintly replied, “I don’t know. You’d better go ask your mother.”
Then he pulled the drain plug, wrapped Sabrina in a towel, and sent her off to see me.
I believe in answering my children’s questions honestly. I also believe in giving my husband a hard time whenever I get the chance. So I told Sabrina, “Go tell your dad that not only do people kiss like that in France, they kiss like that right here in the United States!”
As she padded off down the hall, I realized it would clearly be my job to teach our kids about sex. Fortunately, I have found some wonderful books to help.
When the kids were younger, I read the books aloud, and our discussion grew from there. We started with a very sweet DK book by Angela Royston, WHERE DO BABIES COME FROM: A DELIGHTFUL FIRST LOOK AT HOW LIFE BEGINS. This book, appropriate for preschoolers and up, discusses how life begins using mostly plants and animals as examples, leading to a gentle discussion of human reproduction that focuses more on how babies grow and are cared for than on conception.
Through the years, we’ve continued to use books to keep “the talk” going. Although my kids are now in middle school, I don’t just hand books to them and send them on their way. We sit down and read through the pages together, stopping to discuss what we read. Two of our favorite sex-ed books, suitable for kids 10 and up, provide plenty of laughs along with detailed information about puberty and reproduction: HAIR IN FUNNY PLACES and MOMMY LAID AN EGG, both by Babette Cole.
One caveat: Some parents may find the somewhat graphic drawings in Cole’s books controversial. We found them accurate enough to be informative and cartoon-ish enough to keep us in our comfort zone. Whichever resources I find to teach our kids about sex, I always preview them carefully to make sure they suit our family’s values.
Other books we have found useful are:
# IT’S PERFECTLY NORMAL: A BOOK ABOUT CHANGING BODIES, GROWING UP, SEX, AND SEXUAL HEALTH by Robie H. Harris
# THE PERIOD BOOK: EVERYTHING YOU DON’T WANT TO ASK (BUT NEED TO KNOW) by Karen Gravelle
# WHAT’S GOING ON DOWN THERE? ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BOYS FIND HARD TO ASK by Karen Gravelle
The books we’ve found over the years have helped us avoid the one-time-only variety of “the talk” I had as a kid. These books have helped keep our family’s lines of communication open, so our kids will feel comfortable asking questions whenever they arise.
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