What about you & your children?
I found my mother's copy of "Our Bodies, Ourselves" at 11. I was good after that.
My parents gave a us a book. I don't recall the name, but it had the drawing of a boy and girl holding hands while walking on a long brick road. All five of us got it. So ... no.
I tried to answer every question my daughter asked, whether it be Santa, religion, her dad's death, or sex. It just felt wrong to lie about any of it. Oh, and drug use. I refused to say I'd never even smoked a joint when she outright asked.
Kind of a cute story: once when she was 5 and going to the bathroom, she asked me, "When Miss Bev [who was pregnant] goes to the bathroom, how does she stop the baby from coming out when she pushes?" Naturally, I thought it was a brilliant inquiry.
That kid is going places!
@Akfishlady I agree! And I think it gives them a sense of confidence if they have the correct info before the crazy ideas start flying around school. I don't envy mothers of boys: they're so vulnerable, and yet it's often mortifying for them to share info on sexuality. I watched my sister raise three and was in awe.
That was the one thing my mother actually got right. She started early, and explained things in the most clinical way possible. I've never had to have "the talk" with anyone. I don't have kids. Another bullet dodged.
We found out the wrong way...
@atheist. I'm not going to laugh brother... some one out here is going to remember something... and that's going to trigger something else...ugh!
LOL no ... my mom never said a thing and my aunt said something really scary to me... not repeating it...
I talked to my kids openly and honestly. They still call with questions or to ask my opinion about things. Whew... Having not had it handled well as I was growing up, I was nervous with my kids. Truth, openness and honesty worked well for my 4.
My parents left a small book to find called " your body is changing ". It told me I would be getting hair in strange places and my balls would drop. It did not tell me this would continue after middle age. lol
I'm sure they did and I blocked it out of my brain. My father did have a very extensive collection of Penthouse Forums in the basement from which I learned a lot. Like always pick up hitch hikers.
I lived on a farm such a talk was totally unnecessary.
Not once. I learned about it by lucking into a shameless hussy for a first girlfriend. She's grown up to be the president of an all woman biker gang sanctioned by the Hell's Angels.
Not really. I had sex Ed in school, more than just abstinence fortunately.
Only thing my parents told me was that one day I would have a period.
Well... Essentially - no. They were mostly providing me with books on all topics, sex included. I think I was fully competent at the age of 8, years before getting interested in actually doing the thing...
Will follow the same approach with my children when the time comes (+answering their questions of course).
Nope. They were too cowardly. A book appeared on our coffee table for about a week, and then disappeared again. I never opened it.
My mom walked in and handed me a book then walked right back out. Pretty sure I had already had sex before this.
My parents had a fairly intelligent and honest book for teenagers about sex, and I learned a lot from that (though it was a long time before I used most of it . They didn't mind explaining things to me if I asked.
@atheist Yes, in some ways they were. Although they were somewhat conservative in some ways, they were smart and educated. And they never tried to stop me from thinking for myself or questioning things (although they didn't always like or agree with what thoughts I came up with!)
@atheist The book was so exciting and interesting for me! Looking back, maybe that's my all-time favorite book, LOL
My mom tremblingly broached the subject when I was fifteen. My sisters and I just stared at her, but eventually I made some correction to what she said. She smiled sheepishly and said she could see that she'd left it a little late.
I educated myself with a book I found in my aunt's house when we were in the US when I was nine, on the biological details, but sex isn't hidden in Haiti.
I home schooled my kids until middle school age, so made sure they read library books on human reproduction, since there were illustrated books for all ages.
They started reading the books when they were too young to care about sex, so lacked the sexual curiosity, and ignorance, of their more cloistered friends.
I had "The Joy of Sex" on my book shelf, but my son didn't bother to read it until he entered puberty.
@atheist Yes, many Haitians were both Catholic and into voodoo, but in the country, it was only voodoo. Most of the Haitians hate and fear it, see it as a desperation measure to save themselves from curses, demonic attacks, etc. Their saying is "God is good, so we don't have to worry about Him..just the spirits."
@atheist No doubt. The Sumerian writings parallel Genesis Bible stories, except they were written 2000 years before the Bible, except from the perspective of an alien race that genetically engineered humans by combining their DNA with human ape men, to work in the gold mines, then called themselves "gods" and required blood sacrifice from their minions.
The origins of human beings according to ancient Sumerian texts [ancient-origins.net]?
No, but my buddies did. 50's and 60's was an era where a pregnant teen will run away with the child's father.
@atheist Abortion was not much of an option. Women didn't had the options and freedoms of today. Different days for sure.
We kids used to play together. One summer night when we were about 6th grade we called a game of Red Rover. Everything started all right and then a couple of girls started whispering and pretty soon the girls were all hovering around one of the girls and we boys were told there would be no Red Rover that night. And that's how we learned about periods.
@atheist Spin the Bottle was about as orgified as we got. First base was a big deal.
Nope, almost become a dad at 17 as a result.
Nope, got my first baby at 16 ;-p