Conservative-ish family needs to tell 9 year old about birds and bees

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Make it medical and clinical. What does being conservative/religious have to do with it? Kids should know about their proper body parts.

Elizabeth Smart talks about coming from a very conservative family and how she was so traumatized trying to explain what happened to her. And she says that she never wants her kids to feel shame it just knowing their body parts and their names.

It’s not shameful to have body parts.

+1

Treat it like any other information and your child will follow your lead.

[Anonymous]

Birds and bees. Really?

[Anonymous]

This is a good book to read aloud and then leave laying around for your kids to read on their own.

Where Did I Come From?: An Illustrated Childrens Book on Human Sexuality https://a.co/d/0avQVcPC

[Anonymous]

He needs to know what periods are, and how to behave if a girl needs to rush to the restroom or has a stain on her pants. He should know not to make a big deal of it, he should discourage others from making a big deal of it, and if he should gallantly loan someone a sweatshirt to cover up, any stain will wash right out so it's no big deal at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just state the facts and use anatomically correct language. This is what these parts do, this is what happens when these parts meet, etc.

What they need to know right now are just the medical / biological facts of human reproduction.

[Anonymous]

The book "Wow in the world, The How and Wow of the Human Body" is really good for kids. It simply explains puberty and the reproductive system. No sexy details.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is a good book to read aloud and then leave laying around for your kids to read on their own.

Where Did I Come From?: An Illustrated Childrens Book on Human Sexuality https://a.co/d/0avQVcPC

This is the same one that my parents left on my shelf and I discovered it one day ha!! Memories lol. I guess it worked fine!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is a good book to read aloud and then leave laying around for your kids to read on their own.

Where Did I Come From?: An Illustrated Childrens Book on Human Sexuality https://a.co/d/0avQVcPC

This is the same one that my parents left on my shelf and I discovered it one day ha!! Memories lol. I guess it worked fine!

I could read at 4 and my parents gave this to me then. I assumed that it couldn’t be right and then there’s a page that says something like “your parents will probably turn red and tell you to read your book if you ask about this”. I asked them and that was the exact response so then I trusted the book more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is a good book to read aloud and then leave laying around for your kids to read on their own.

Where Did I Come From?: An Illustrated Childrens Book on Human Sexuality https://a.co/d/0avQVcPC

This is the same one that my parents left on my shelf and I discovered it one day ha!! Memories lol. I guess it worked fine!

Yes I had these books and gave them to our kids too (the one you mentioned plus the other book called what’s happening to me). OP they are fairly conservative. Nothing liberal about genders.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What does conservative have to do with it? It’s science.

NP but I browsed my local library for a kid-friendly book like this and every single one had been published post-2020 and included some stuff about choosing your gender. I am not interested in teaching my kid anything like this, I want to keep it strictly scientific. So maybe she is looking for a book recommendation that doesn’t include that commentary.

I just meant conservative, not in the political sense, as a PP said above. But no I don’t want to even introduce the whole changing gender idea during elementary years. I don’t want to normalize it or present it as an option, is that political now?? I would never advocate for intolerance but I don’t want to talk about it with children.

Political? IDK. But your desire not to discuss this topic means that trans kids will be the ones who explain it to your kid. If you’re good with that, by all means.

Of course it's political now. Is OP oblivious to the many federal policy changes intended to make it difficult to be trans?

PP is right, OP. Your kids can hear it from you or they can hear it from someone else. Make your choice while you still have time.

Nothing says you have to combine them. We had the sex explanation with both kids - boy around age 6, girl around 8 - when they asked. We read the relevant parts of It’s Not the Stork and also whatever book I had lying around from my childhood that my parents used with me. We’ve discussed marriage, including gay marriage, but I haven’t explained how gay sex works physically because they haven’t asked. I also haven’t said a word about trans anything. Boy is now 12 and girl 10 and neither has asked about trans kids. If it has come up at school (public school in MD), then presumably they’re fine with whatever they know.

The number of trans folks is very low in terms of population percentage, whereas everyone is born of a sperm and egg. There is an obvious reason to discuss the latter, and less so for the former unless you want to.