Kids are curious. Lets start with that. They have questions. Lots and lots of questions. Sometimes those questions catch you off guard. Well before that time came (learning from friends that had gone before me) I prepared!

I bought a pop up children’s book that explains where children come from. I was going to be ready. No catching this mama off guard! I’m ready bring it on!

Dr. Ruth was at my side. Who could explain it better right? I flipped thru the pop up book and it seemed pretty darn good.

As my children toddled on, there were a few times I thought the book was ready come out. But turned out they wanted to know more about where baby chickens came from…Dr. Ruth didn’t cover that.

Finally the day came. Sex Ed was about to take place. I get out the book and cuddle up on the sofa to read this amazing story of love and life and as I’m reading aloud I hear my words as if from a bubble. The words came out of my mouth so fast, too fast for me to stop them, but at the same moment the words came out in such slow motion I felt like I was in a time warp.

“The penis goes into the vagina”

Oh my holy moly mama me…..did that seriously just come out of my mouth, did my curious child pick up on it? What questions will come now? Do i need to make it clear that my daughter and son are NOT to give this a try? Do i mention some RULE like you need to be married first? oh my mind is racing with allllll the what ifs you can imagine and them some! As I stumble thru the rest of the book trying to pre-read before another one of those graphic details flies out of my mouth. I realize the worst is over, what more can Dr. Ruth have me say now. THE PENIS GOES INTO THE VAGINA….there is no more to tell. That was my brave motherhood moment and if I could do it over I’m not sure how I would have handled that one minor detail of just HOW DOES the sperm get to the egg mommie?

So I thank Dr. Ruth for leading me in this tricky path, but I have words of wisdom for those of you that haven’t approached this place in parenthood yet.

ALWAYS read the book you plan to teach with IN FULL, so there are no surprises.

Think of all the crazy questions your child might come up with once they are fueled with this new found info and be prepared to inform them that under no circumstances are they to attempt this with a sibling, friend, etc.

OH that brings me to parenting manual RULE #2

Make it very clear to your child their privates are PRIVATE! They should not be exploring them with siblings, friends and for sure never ever ever an adult! And make it clear, if anyone is interested in exploring their privates they MUST tell you! Keep your children safe. They can’t go running around this world in the dark, but once they have this info, they need to know the boundaries and they need to be VERY CLEAR boundaries!

So in the long run, I am very glad Dr. Ruth was there for me and in such a clear matter of fact way, but I wish I would have been prepared for that one sentence before I heard it coming out of my mouth in such graphic detail! I do recommend the book if you are at the this place with your children.

And I will say now that my children know it ALL, they don’t seem remotely interested in it. So it might be an easy way to just get it over with and no longer wonder when that awkward moment might come. Just read the story book and move on to their next question…in my house it was: “Mom, can I wire this old phone to these jumper cables and then wire them to this circuit board bit and put it in the plug jack and make my own cell phone?”

Is there a book on that? Dr. Ruth’s guide to child engineers that want to electrocute themselves at each turn?