Questions and answers
I was inspired by JMom's blog today about how to answer kids' potentially embarassing questions. It reminded me of when my sons, then ages 6 and 8, asked me a hard question of their own. I have always answered my kids' questions honestly and without making a big deal of things. In my experience, when you are matter-of-fact and truthful, your kids don't end up acting silly about the questions they ask or the answers they get.
That doesn't, however, make the answering much easier...
So, when the boys were about 6 and 8, my close friend was pregnant with her second child. They had asked me a few times how the baby got "in there", but they were always asking me in places like the grocery store where I didn't care to get into a Conversation. I would tell them we could talk about it at home...and by the time we got home they didn't remember the question. Whew. Well, one evening in the car, my friend's pregnancy had me reminiscing with them about when I was pregnant with them. And then The Question, "But how did we get IN there?"
I gave them the bare-bones physical description of how the process worked. I'm sure my face was flaming, but at least it was dark in the car. They were very quiet for a minute or two, processing, I guess, and then one of them asked, "Did you do that with my dad?" (By that time we were divorced, and I was trying very hard to forget that I EVER had done that with their dad, lol).
I explained that yes, indeed, I had. Quiet again reigned in the car for some time, and then I heard a plaintive voice ask, "Isn't there any other way??"
That doesn't, however, make the answering much easier...
So, when the boys were about 6 and 8, my close friend was pregnant with her second child. They had asked me a few times how the baby got "in there", but they were always asking me in places like the grocery store where I didn't care to get into a Conversation. I would tell them we could talk about it at home...and by the time we got home they didn't remember the question. Whew. Well, one evening in the car, my friend's pregnancy had me reminiscing with them about when I was pregnant with them. And then The Question, "But how did we get IN there?"
I gave them the bare-bones physical description of how the process worked. I'm sure my face was flaming, but at least it was dark in the car. They were very quiet for a minute or two, processing, I guess, and then one of them asked, "Did you do that with my dad?" (By that time we were divorced, and I was trying very hard to forget that I EVER had done that with their dad, lol).
I explained that yes, indeed, I had. Quiet again reigned in the car for some time, and then I heard a plaintive voice ask, "Isn't there any other way??"
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