Sex [Part 2]

Does all of this mean I'll be taking my family on nudist retreats to the nearest hippy lodge? Hell, no. Am I pretty terrified of having to discuss actual sexuality issues with a preschooler? Hell, yes.

Well, I wasn't terrified until I read this on the Advocates for Youth website:

What Families Need to Do to Raise Sexually Healthy Children
To help four- to five-year-old children develop a healthy sexuality, families should:

• Help children understand the concept of privacy and that talk about sexuality is private and occurs at home.
• Teach correct names of the major body parts (internal and external) and their basic functions.
• Explain how babies "get into" the mother's uterus.
• Encourage children to come to them or other trusted adults for information about sexuality.

The first one...Ok, I can do that. I've talked to Meike about certain body parts being private and that other people shouldn't touch them. But even then, I wonder- Is this going to embed a subconsious aversion to letting people touch her when she's an adult? Should I word this differently? Am I totally fucking this kid up?

Names of body parts. Got it. Uterus? Yeah, that's her "Baby Maker." That's as far as I'm going. INSERT UTERUS PILLOW This conversation actually came up a little while ago when Meike was asking if our cat was a good mommy. When I told her that she never had babies, Meike asked if that made the cat sad. I explained that the cat doesn't know she can't have babies, so she doesn't care (as if she'd care anyway). That eventually rolled into Meike wanting to know why the cat can't reproduce. My eloquent response? "Because she doesn't have a 'Baby Maker.'" End of discussion.

Luke also has a "Baby Maker." When Meike and Luke first started taking baths together, Meike pointed to his testicles (I really had to work hard not to say 'balls') and wanted to know what they were. Curiousity is a sign of intelligence, right? Sigh. So, that's his "Baby Maker." I think, altogether, Meike is exceptionally informed about her internal and external anatomy, as well as her brother's. Peapods, tee-pees (penis), and baby makers...What more could she ask for, really?

Now, this next step is a doosie- Explain how babies "get into" the mother's uterus. Um, Advocates for Youth, I'm going to needa minute for this one. I can't think of a way to explain this in a vague and disconnected way that in no way involves the idea of genitals touching. Oh, wait. It's says "four- to five-year old." Awesome. That gives me a year to forget how much of an impact this documentary had on me so that I can avoid having this conversation for another ten years.