I've been mentally preparing myself to have "the talk" with A for several months now....ok, a year. Ever since we were driving down the road talking about winter turning to spring and what our favorite things about that are and A says "it's when the grass turns green, the flowers start coming out, and all the animals start breeding..." A is quite the little science geek and she sees things through that science-filter most of the time....
So, I've researched, talked to people, and read books. Talked to Dear Hubby to get our game plan... tried to psyche myself up, tried to figure out how much to share and how much can wait...I've prayed. Yes. I've prayed. Ok, God...don't let me sound like an idiot, ok? Don't let me scar her for life! And could you just send me a nice little sign when the time is right? That would be nice... My mom never attempted to give me "the talk" until I was 22 years old and engaged to be married. I have nothing to go by here, people. Don't make fun of my need to be overly prepared.
Then, a few weeks ago, AGAIN driving in the car to take W to taekwondo, A&W start talking about babies...and ask me to tell them again how A used to get the hiccups all the time when she was in my tummy and how W used to stick his booty out or kick me in the ribs. Good times, good times...they love hearing stories about themselves in-utero.
A's thought process got to rolling and she stops for a second and says "Mom - how DOES the baby get in there?"
Me: "Well, A...."
A interrupts: "I know God does it, Mom...I mean, HOW does he do it?" Dang...she shot me down before I even had a chance to use the God card.
Did I tell her? No...I didn't think it was appropriate in front of my 6 year old son (that's my story and I'm sticking to it)...so I used a stall tactic...she persisted for a few minutes but eventually got distracted and forgot.
Was that my moment? God, you forgot the sign to give me time to warm up! What if I pull a muscle or something? Besides, I wanted to cover some general girlie information about her reproductive system first! Lay the groundwork....you know. Dang... did I mess up?
This weekend, I got to lay some groundwork...it started out as a discussion about B.O. and deodorant...then we progressed to other changes as you get older - bras, mostly (she told me there were 3 girls in her class who wore bras - this is 3rd grade, people!) - and then a whole explanation of ovaries and fallopian tubes and uterus. We ended up talking about periods and even took a kotex pad apart to see how it works.
A never got weirded out or wide-eyed on me...she took it like a true little scientist. She asked good questions, she asked me when will it happen to her....But she never asked me what it takes for an egg to become a baby. And I didn't volunteer.
I'm holding out for summer....I don't want to deal with parents calling me because my daughter is the one who told the whole class about the birds & the bees.
