Let me set the scene. Pookie and I were sitting on the couch together with Hubby sitting in a chair to the side, basically behind Pookie so I could see his face but she couldn't.
Pookie: Mom, do you know how baby rabbits are made?
Me: Umm...how about you tell me?
Pookie: OK, you take a girl rabbit and put in a cage with a boy rabbit. Then you wait 5 or 6 minutes. (Picture a look of horror on Hubby's face right here)
Me: 5 or 6 minutes?
Pookie: Yep. Then there are babies in the girl bunny and it takes a whole calendar month for bunnies to be born. They are pink and cuddly.
Me: Sounds like you learned a lot about bunny making.
Pookie: Yeah, I loved it.
Y'all, I know there was a huge teachable moment here. A chance to talk about sex, love, marriage, babies, waiting. But I was a coward. A big fat coward. I was waiting for Pookie to ask any or all of the following questions:
- Did it take you and Daddy 5 or 6 minutes?
- Do you have to be married to have babies?
- What about X & Y who are trying to make a baby, but they are not married?
- What about W & Z who are both girls/boys, how do they make babies?
She didn't ask and I felt like I dodged a bullet. I love conversations with my kids.
4 comments:
HA - i would have chickened out too :) interesting conversation indeed!
I thought we were only supposed to answer the questions they ask? Wasn't that the right thing? You could have wrecked bunnies for her...
ACJ - I agree. Talking to kids about these kinds of things is like talking to border guards...only answer the questions they ask. I think that will be rule #23 in my parenting handbook.
Also, I'm thankful that the girls are being raised in an environment where these questions are natural; because we have these friends who are on different journeys to parenthood. I certainly didn't, and I think our kids are richer for it.
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