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Are you having the ultimate dilemma of determining the appropriate age to have “The Talk” with your sons or daughters? We get it, by now our children should understand their body parts, inappropriate touching, male/female anatomy and respect for personal space, but at what point do we start to discuss the feelings associated with sexuality? Now I pride myself on being open with my boys and hope that I have created a dialogue of honesty and candidness.  At the very least, I have created a tradition of talking to them about sexuality every birthday since the age of 5, but the questions becomes; how do we make the jump from the abstract to the practical feelings associated with sexuality? I will venture to say that balance is probably a struggle with most parents.

We should want our children to learn everything they can from what is taught at home and not get the messages and images streamed from the media and/or their friends. We should want to make sure that we stress to our children the importance of such responsible actions and the feelings associated with their actions. We not only want to validate any feelings but also dispel any myths or misconceptions about young ladies or young men they may encounter. Lastly, we should want to continue the healthy dialogue of sexuality without coming off as a 'Stalin'.

In actuality, there is no “right” way, you  just have to dive right in and hang on to the rails. (gulp)

Introducing “teachable” moments regarding sexuality come quite frequently thanks to the some of the images we have around us, so using those opportunities as well as the resources below:

http://www.childrennow.org/index.php/learn/twk_sex

http://www.plannedparenthood.org/parents/how-talk-your-child-about-sex-4422.htm

http://kidshealth.org/parent/growth/growing/talk_about_puberty.html