Comments on: Our Sex Talk

By: elektrodot

elektrodot — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 19:16:42 +0000

hah, that reminds me of the time i had heard someone say the word “prick” and asked my grandmother what it meant. of course she told me, in that matter of fact way she always says everything. i always like those stories, everybody has one!

ill have to say that i completly dont remember any sex education by my grandparents or mom other than her telling me how to use a tampon (in her weird ex bf’s apartment no less). i think i did what alot of people here seemed to and just read alot of books. and a period talk at school. my science teacher once told us that when a baby is born breech they shove it back in and turn it around…which…isnt…possible.

By: Lynn Gazis-Sax

Lynn Gazis-Sax — Mon, 13 Nov 2006 14:58:46 +0000

Our official talk in the fifth grade (girls separated from boys) was heavy on “you’re going to be menstruating soon,” with a little anatomy. We had a few more years of sex education, presented in a fairly boring format and mostly consisting of stuff my mother had already told me, in junior high, but didn’t learn anything about birth control until tenth grade. Of course, my mother had both left a copy of “Our Bodies, Our Selves” (among other books) on a shelf where I could readily find it and talked about birth control with me directly, so I did know something bout birth control by that time.

The one glaring deficiency in my sex education, though, was that I knew everything about birth control except where the heck to get hold of it on short notice. Since this was pre-AIDS, condoms weren’t available in every supermarket. The one time I tried to look for my local Planned Parenthood, itwound up being a really long bike ride to discover I’d gotten the location completely wrong. And routine ob/gyn appointments at the college health center did not have a super fast turnaround time.

By: mustelid

mustelid — Mon, 13 Nov 2006 11:07:25 +0000

Wow. As a child, I read everything I could get my hands on. My reading skills were waaay above grade level. Boy, I wish my parents had left out a sex-education book before they left Stephen King’s Misery out. *shiver* As for the official talk, my school system gave it in the fifth grade, two years before my parents thought to ask what I knew. Moral of the story: Make sure your kids are comfortable enough to ask you anything. Pay attention to your child’s reading comprehension level. And leave these books lying around.

By: Lynn Gazis-Sax

Lynn Gazis-Sax — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 00:25:00 +0000

“In a few years I would read an SE Hinton book in the backseat of my mother’s car, come to a word I didn’t understand, and ask my mom what the word “horny” meant. This would not go over well.”

One of my positive memories of my mother: when I was in fifth grade, I picked up a copy of The Autobiography of Malcolm X that was lying around the house, started to read it, and asked my mother what the word “pimp” meant. She told me, in a very straightforward way.

“It’s very straightforward and talks about gender differences, puberty, masturbation/touching, and sexual reproduction.”

Actually, I learned the meaning of the word “masturbation” in junior high school, by reading books by Freudian psychologists. Not really an ideal context.

By: little light

little light — Fri, 10 Nov 2006 19:21:33 +0000

Eeeeee, my parents had that book when I was a kid. Knowing that I used to sneak into her study and read her forbidden grownup books, my mom hid it in her bookshelf low enough for me to find. Though I’d wiped my fingerprints off it and the shelf and brushed my tracks out of the carpet, I think they knew when I’d read it.

It was only years later, when I mentioned it, that she raised an eyebrow and asked me if I really thought she owned it for herself. I guess some parents know when a child’s ready, and what delivery method’ll work; in my family’s case, enabling of, uh, burglary.

Still, it would’ve done me a lot more good if my folks had sat me down and talked to me about it. Sounds like you did a helluva job.

By: human

human — Fri, 10 Nov 2006 19:13:24 +0000

“Where did I come from?” was totally my favorite book when I was four. A lot of people I’ve spoken with are horrified by this because apparently only horrible parents let their four year olds know about sex. To me it’s much better that way, because children aren’t interested in /having/ sex, so they may as well learn about it before they are old enough to be embarrassed by it. Makes the job that much easier.

By: Frumious B

Frumious B — Fri, 10 Nov 2006 05:05:08 +0000

I still can’t believe my friend let her son walk away thinking her baby was going to come out her butt. The conversation was spurred when he asked when the neighbor’s baby girl was going to grow her penis. If they are old enough to ask, they are old enough to get correct answers.

By: SJ

SJ — Fri, 10 Nov 2006 04:05:38 +0000

With my oldest, it was me getting knocked up that started the sex talk. She was four. We mostly leaned on “What’s the Big Secret?” by the guy who does the “Arthur” books. I love it. It’s very straightforward and talks about gender differences, puberty, masturbation/touching, and sexual reproduction.

But I am super thrilled to learn about the Peter Mayle. He’s one of my guilty beachread-type pleasures.

My mom drew a picture of a uterus/fallopian tubes that looked depressingly like a cow, head on. Moo.

By: Lynnster, yeah

Lynnster, yeah — Fri, 10 Nov 2006 03:17:29 +0000

I am bookmarking your blog based on those two sentences alone. Fabulous (tho I realize not for you at that point in time!). You have a way with words and I look forward to having time to read more…

By: Kyso K

Kyso K — Fri, 10 Nov 2006 00:05:57 +0000

I had that book, too! It’s great, and cartoon mom and dad were so ugly and resembled my own parents so much that as a chastity-promoting tool it was far more effective than the True Love Waits program my mom sent me to when I was twelve. I finished “Where do I come from?” and didn’t think about sex until after the abstinence program, when I switched to “I can;t wait to get me some of that.”