What an awesome show. Thank God they didn't really spend a lot of time explaining the facts of life to us or that would've been a really awkward nine years. And how would they have explained Jo? Jo likes girls, but she is a girl...don't think on that too hard kids.
I've realized that many kids out there didn't get the 'facts of life' talk quite the same way I did. Ok, I didn't actually get the facts of life talk at all. If I did, I must have somehow blocked it from memory. I do remember asking my mother about sex and being told that she would explain that to me when I was 15. Really? You were going to wait until I was 15? Needless to say I found out about it on my own, and I never got that talk. Thankfully I didn't fall into the realm of the average kid who has sex at 15 years old, or I would've been really confused.
After listening to others talk about their experiences I've realized that parents just have no clue when it comes to explaining stuff like this. They either tell their kid way too much too soon, or they wait way too long. When you explain to an elementary school kid all about sex and I mean ALL about it, don't expect things to turn out okay. How will you explain your actions to the parents of the other third graders when your kid tries to show them how to masturbate or explain to them how babies are made? Then you have the opposite end of the spectrum. Take my husband's father for instance, who decided to explain all about wet dreams at the breakfast table one morning. My husband was 21 at the time and his younger brother was 19....I think you are a little late on that one pops. If they don't have it figured out by then, then they probably never will.
I understand why parents shy away at explaining this issue. It's an uncomfortable topic to discuss with your kids, but it's kind of mandatory to go over it. You don't want a 12 year old explaining to another 12 year old what sex is. You want to be the first to get your ideas in their brain, but don't overload them with details. Instill whatever religious or moral values you have into your children, but let them know it's okay to come talk to you about sex. And don't assume that just because you waited until you were 18 to have sex that they will do the same. Avoiding the issue isn't going to make them hold on to their virginity any longer.
What will I tell my kids? Hopefully I won't try to rely on videos or books to cover the issue for me. I don't intend to shelter them either. No matter what I do, I won't be able to change my kid's personality. If they are going to be interested in sex at an early age, I'm not going to be able to suppress that. The most I can do is educate them, teach them values, and hope they are intelligent enough to do the right thing. I'm not gonna lie though, they'll be forced to watch The Facts of Life at some point.
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