I remember the first time I heard that {song}, it was at a friend birthday party. All of a sudden everyone got so excited, her older brother (who was playing DJ) was going to play this song I had never heard of before, it was quite exciting, I mean really, the lyrics have the word ‘sex’ in them! Granted, we were 12 years old, it was very risque.
Last night though, my 7 year old decided it was time to ask how babies got in mommies tummies.
I’ll back up a bit here to say that this has been coming for a while. About a year and a half ago, he started asking how babies came out of mommies tummies. I explained that there were two ways a baby can come out, c-section and vaginal birth. And that was that.
A few weeks ago, he started asking me why only ladies could have babies. I explained that ladies have a womb and men don’t and that’s the place a baby has to grow. I also said that with some animals its the male that carries the babies, like sea horses, which he already knew, thank you very much!
Last night while trying to get him to go to sleep he started asking again about why ladies have the babies not the men. We discussed it again. He went quiet and I thought he was asleep. And then…
‘Mommy, how do the babies get inside the mommy?’
Thank heavens it was dark, I think I may have looked like a fish out of water!
I started by describing the differences between men and woman. Women have wombs, men don’t. Women have a vagina, men have a penis. At this point he proudly told me that women have boobs and men don’t. I explained about sperm and eggs.
I then told him that when a man and a women love each other very much they have sex. I very (very) briefly explained about penetration. I explained that the sperm and the eggs join up and that they start to divide and multiply and start making a baby.
He then proceeded to grill me on the mechanics of how the baby develops? When does it have a heart and a brain? Is it alive if it doesn’t have a heart yet? Why is it so small? If the baby starts off so small how does a lady know she is pregnant?
Eventually I said we would find a video on YouTube about the development of a baby from conception to birth and that it was 10pm and it was time to go to sleep. I didn’t tell him it was time for mommy to have a stiff drink.
So, that was it. Our talk about sex/how babies are made.
Did I explain it the right way? Who knows. Will he keep asking questions? For sure. Am I happy with how the discussion went? I think I am. Am I putting him to sleep tonight? Hell no, that will be Paul’s job!
I have this golden rule about talking to kids about the birds and the bees (and babies)…
The moment they start asking the questions, your job is to answer them.
You did good 🙂 X
Thanks Cath.
It sounds like you did well and it sounds like he’s asking some great questions!
I had the same “rule” as Cath, when my knucklehead asked me a question I answered it according to his age.
We had many long discussions including w e t dreams and m a s turbation!
I wish I’d recorded them somehow… I can’t remember what I said!
Yup, we are honest and anatomically correct. He is such a smart kid 🙂