Thanks for entering the giveaway to win a copy of Joanna Hyatt's "The Sex Talk: A Survival Guide for Parents".
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Congrats Kristen and Marisue!! Please email me at Hyatt.Janelle@gmail.com with your mailing address.
Saturday, June 7, 2014
Wednesday, June 4, 2014
Choose your own adventure - The Sex Talk part #3 {Guest Post + Giveaway)
We all have those cousins, you know, the one you avoid eye contact with at family reunions...
I'm so happy to introduce my cousin, The Sexpert: Joanna Hyatt as a guest blogger today..
No. Shes not the one cousin that you avoid eye contact with...
In the realm of sex education, I'd be the cousin that stands on their front porch in their underwear, legs splayed, cigarette dangling, holding a rifle, shooting at anything that moves and yelling "Git off mah porch!" and Joanna would be the polished cousin from NYC (she's really from Washington) in Jimmy Choos, a $200 haircut and raised eyebrows. Ha!
I've been writing, from a parents point of view, over the last couple of weeks about talking to your kids about S-E-X (Part #1 and Part #2) and I was thrilled when Joanna agreed to come over and share some of her knowledge with you and I.
Joanna is a speaker, writer and educator who travels all over North America and speaks to thousands of parents, teens, pastors and educators at youth conferences, high school health classes, sororities, pastor groups and many other varied events about healthy relationships and sexual behavior. She released a new book called "The Sex Talk: A Survival Guide for Parents" that is funny, informative, gripping and honest. Note: Don't read her book and drink coffee at the same time - It'll burn coming out of your nostrils from laughing. True story.
So, without further ado, I'll bring out the big guns and let Joanna be the "sexpert".
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Choose Your Own Adventure: The Sex Talk
Growing up, we had a series of Encyclopedia Brown books, where at a crucial part in the case, I would get to decide whether Encyclopedia would solve the case, get in trouble, or hit a dead end.
Being the perfectionist that I am, I would usually read all the options before picking the one where he solved the case. I didn’t want to pick the ‘wrong’ choice, even if I knew I could choose a different ending, and no one would be the worse off.
How many of us wish we could do the same when it comes to parenting?
(I have both hands raised, as well as my feet)
When it comes to talking about sex with their kids, many parents treat it like I did with the books, They want to know before they talk what exactly they should say to have the ‘right’ outcome.
Here’s what I’ve learned after years of working with teens:
I don’t know.
Isn’t that great?! If I, who speak to thousands, don’t know the answer that will work every time, then that means there isn’t a ‘right’ answer. There are lots of different ways to communicate your hearts and hopes for your kids in the areas of sex, dating, and relationships. No one word or phrase is going to make it or break it for them.
With that in mind, here are three things to encourage you and help you as you choose your answers. And if you have to back track and go a different direction, that’s alright.
1. You get more than one chance
Gone are the days of the agonizing “Talk,” where your parents locked you in a moving car (read: road trip) and tried to breathlessly tell you everything you never wanted to know about relationships, dating, and sex.
The result: not very effective, as you may know from personal experience.
Instead of one talk, try lots of little talks spread out over a few years. You get the opportunity to approach these topics from multiple aspects and actually make an influence in your child’s decisions.
The great news: if you say something with less than Shakespearean eloquence, you get a second chance. And a third, and a fourth. It’s a conversation that should begin before your child hits puberty and ends right about the time you drop them off at the altar.
2. Your kids are already thinking about sex.
Especially if they’ve already hit puberty or they run with friends who are a bit more advanced. If it helps you to sleep better at night believing your 13 year old daughter has no idea what a condom is, fine. But while you’re sleeping, she’s getting quite the education from her friends and the internet. Our kids are growing up in a world where fifth graders have boyfriends and girlfriends and pregnant teens get front cover celebrity status. So unless you live in a hut at the base of the Himalayas (and even then), your kids have at least a cursory understanding of sex and relationships.
Rather than horrify, this should actually encourage you to start talking. You don’t have to worry that if you start talking about sex, they’ll suddenly start thinking about sex and then want sex! By engaging them on these topics, you are communicating to your child that not only will you not be surprised when they come with questions, but you actually welcome it.
If you decide not to say anything, they will go somewhere else for the answers. And what will those sources tell them?
3. Your voice matters
Yes, you may be only one voice in a sea of thousands inundating your child’s world from the moment they wake up until their sweaty little heads hits the pillow. And yes, you may not be as flashy as Ke$ha or as attention-grabbing as Miley Cyrus. But out of the mouth of babes we know that you, mom or dad, are still beating out the competition when it comes to influencing your son or daughter’s decisions about sex.
Eight out of ten teens say that it would be easier to avoid early sexual activity and teen pregnancy if they were able to have more open and honest conversations about these topics with their parents.
And over half of young adolescents say parents are the greatest influence when it comes to their decisions about sex, not friends. That number only drops to a little below half when the teens start driving.
You matter. And however imperfectly you may talk about relationships and sex, however much you might stumble or feel awkward, you are still making a difference. Every time you have a conversation with your pre-teen or teen, you are planting another seed that may grow into the self-confidence and wisdom they need to make the best decisions for a healthy future.
So get out there and start the conversation with your kids today. Talking, however imperfectly, is better than waiting to get it perfect and never saying anything to your teens or preteens.
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Joanna Hyatt
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MY BLOG: www.joannahyatt.com
SPEAKING: www.joannahyatt.com/speaking-
TWITTER: www.twitter.com/JoannaHyatt
FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/joannahyatt1
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Thanks Joanna! I'm happy to have you on "mah porch" sharing information that EVERY parent needs.
Joanna has given me 2 copies of her book, "The Sex Talk: A Survival Guide For Parents" to giveaway to YOU my readers!!! Woot Woot!
Look into my eyes - You know you need this book - its practical AND funny. Seriously, I'm sold on parenting books that give me information practical enough to immediately apply to my life. Trust me, if you have kids, you need all the resources you can get on this topic.
2 lucky people will win a signed copy of Joanna's book and its super to easy to win!!
Or
Do ONE or more of the following: (each item is worth 2 entries)
Do ONE or more of the following: (each item is worth 2 entries)
Share this blog post on your FB wall - can be done daily
Become a Follower of my blog (See sidebar)
Follow Joanna on FB HERE
Follow Joanna on Twitter @joannahyatt
(Be sure to leave a comment back here with your email address letting me know what you did IF you don't use Rafflecopter!)
Giveaway ends Saturday night. WINNERS will be announced on Sunday and the books will be mailed out on next week.
OH! If you can't wait for the giveaway and you're ready to get some moral support to have "THE TALK" use this code SexTalk10 to get 10% off of the cost of her book. Purchase HERE
Good Luck!
Thursday, May 29, 2014
Laying Eggs, Sperm Whales and Adoption... Talking to Your Kids About Sex part #2
Part 2 - talking to your kids about Sex (read part one here) I apologize in advance for the length of this post...
So, because we are a little bit of a self proclaimed "nerdy" family who loves science, nature and Lord of the Rings (wait, that doesn't fit? Says who?) we've watched the Discovery Channel, Crocodile Hunter, Animal Planet, Nat Geo etc. together as a family since my kids were born.
Anyone familiar with these shows knows that sooner or later, you're going to see/hear lions mating, chimpanzees nursing, mommy aye-aye's delivering little baby aye-ayes that look like the spawn of Satan (seriously - see one here if you dare) and all sorts of various 'circle of life' moments *cue Lion King music*.
Instead of grabbing the remote and flipping toDora Scooby-Doo, we calmly sat there and let our kids see Mother Nature in action. We figured this would be a non-intrusive way to introduce the facts of life.
Naturally, these moments led to all sorts of interesting conversation topics and comments:
"What is that Daddy Lion doing?" (perfect cue in to talk about the "birds and the bees"...)
"Mom, was I as hairy as the baby gorilla when I was born?"
"Whoa! That's huge!"
"Did you carry me in a pouch?"
*card from my son on Mothers Day - age 6* "Thanks for not eating me when I was really little. Also, thanks for not making me eat my own poo. You're the best Mom I ever had! Happy Mothers Day!"
(Yes folks, it really is that easy to be the be awarded Mother of the Year status. Take Notes: #1. Don't cannabalize your kid #2 Don't make your kid eat poo. You're welcome.)
and one of my favorite remembered conversations with my then 4 year old daughter...
"Mom, I was in your belly right?" "Yup, that's right." "And I was in there for almost a year, right?" "Yup." "So, how did I get out of your belly???" *crickets* "Well..." *CRAP! Thinking fast under pressure* "I kind of...ummm... laid you... like an egg!" *silence* "Like an egg?" "Yup, kind of like a chicken lays an egg." "So, I came out of your bottom?" "Umm, yes, kind of..." (Honestly, I had no idea where we were going to go with this as I was NOT prepared to talk about this with my 4 year old yet.) Silence and then hysterical laughter as she runs out of the room screaming, "T!!! Guess what?? Mom pooped me out of her butt like an egg-turd!!!! Dad! Did you know about this?????? Isn't that disgusting?????? *Laying on floor laughing* hahahahaahahahah!"
Ok, so, I wasn't prepared. That's my fault. Good thing she didn't share with her Sunday school about it...
Seriously people, we parents have to have a plan BEFORE these conversations come up.
N and T were driving home one day from a "man date" a few years ago, and talking about sharks versus sperm whales (I told you we were a nerdy family) when T out of the blue asked, "Dad, I know that boys have the sperm, and girls have the eggs, but how does the sperm get to the egg?"
I'm fairly certain at this point Nate would have been comfortable with driving the car off the road to avoid this conversation, but instead, he gripped the steering wheel and concentrated very hard on the lane ahead of him. "So, you're asking me how the sperm meets the egg?" "Yes, Dad. How." "Well....."
T came home from that conversation, wide eyed and in a rush. Bounding into the kitchen where I was standing, he said, "Dad just told me about sex. I want kids, but I am not doing that. I'm just going to adopt." He then scampered from the room to detox from his conversation with his dad, while Nate and I just looked at each other. Nate shrugged. I, on the other hand, stressed over whether or not Nate had scarred him for life and how much therapy was going to cost in the future.
It was shortly after this talk that I jumped online and bought "The Story of Me - God's design for sex" and we read them together as a family.
Now, I'm going to give a disclaimer: I am NOT a licensed parenting expert. I do not have a degree in child development, but, N and I have worked our dang butts off trying to keep open lines of communication with our kids and feel like we have done a semi decent job in spite of our fear of this topic in today's deranged society.
My point with this post is not to come across as a know it all or expert - which I clearly am not - but as a mom that just wants to encourage other parents who feel ill-equipped, scared or unprepared. I want to encourage each of you to keep at it and share your mistakes and triumphs - we can learn from one another.
As parents, we should be the FIRST people to talk to our kids about sex, healthy sexuality, sexual abuse safety, pornography etc. Now, keep in mind, this list is by no means an exhaustive one, and each family is going to have their own approach, convictions and beliefs in this area. I'm just touching on points that we have used with our kids and links to some resources that we've either used or have received positive feed back on. So read on at your own risk. =)
My advice on how to maintain an ongoing healthy conversation with your kids about sex.
#1. Use the real terminology for their body parts and start at a young age.
Since our kids were little, we have always used the scientific name for their body parts. Partly due to the fact that it annoys me when grown ups say things like "Now, Johnny, don't play with your willy!" Bah. What will poor Johnny do when he befriends a little boy named William aka "Willy". How confused will he be?
What about a little girl whose mother has affectionately referred to her parts as her "tee-tee, shi-shi, who-haa" or other various silly sounding names? Why do her body parts have to have the same nick-names as Kim Kardashians designer dog? (I'm just guessing on the Kim reference... but it sounds fairly accurate to me).
Now, calling their body parts by the scientific names has had its bumps too... Like that one time in Target when T made up a song to commemorate his err,penis "willy" and sang it at the top of his lungs. He was three, but it still caused some raised eyebrows and gasps from customers in the produce department.
Start young, teach your kids the scientific names for their body. When they are older, discuss all the various slang terminology (this one is tough for a mother of a middle-schooler - trust me) for that specific body part but always bring it back to what it is actually called. Take the taboo off of talking about their body parts.
The Story of Me: Gods design for sex series
Amazing You: Getting smart about your private parts
The Boys Body Book Ages 7-12
The Care and Keeping of you: Girls ages 7-12
#2. Talk about God's design for sex.
We need to be talking about God and His view on sex often and openly.
Here's the kicker.
It seems as though most churches of today are silent on the topic of sex or approach it from what I call a "red light, green light" stand point.
RED LIGHT: Don't have sex before you're married. Bad sex, Bad!
GREEN LIGHT: Ok! You're married now - go have all the sex you want!! Good Sex, Good!
(Dr Seuss could've had an adult best seller on his hand with that one...)
With the "Red Light, Green Light" mentality and the general silence of churches on the topic of all things sex related, is it no wonder that our christian youth are ill equipped or feel like total failures when they have sex outside of marriage or experience other forms of "sexual failure"?? Whelp, I digress, That's a whole 'nother stream of thoughts that I'll have to come back to at another post.
Our churches might not talk about sex, but the Bible does and frequently. Ever hear of the Song of Solomon? Note: Giving your kid a message Bible and a goal to read the Bible in a year DOES in fact include this book... hahahah!
Talking to our kids about God's design for sex, and the very fact that we were created in His image and that human sexuality is perfectly normal in the realm of healthy Christianity is so important.
God created us as sexual creatures who desire intimacy and closeness.
Sex was created to 1. procreate 2. Bring joy and closeness in Mom and Dads relationship 3. Point us back to the total love of the Creator. As your kids get older, you can go more in depth in these topics... like timing (what 15 year old is truly ready to procreate??) respecting the other gender... you get the idea. If you're not sure what God's view on sex is, check out some of the links below.
Links
Talk about Sex - Focus on the Family
Sex: God, Gross or Gift? - Marshill Church
How and when to talk to your kids about sex
Almost 12 - the story of sex
The Sex Talk: a survival guide for parents
Elephant in the Room: Gods Design for Marriage, Sex Dating
Parenting & Teaching about Sex
Teaching the healthy Biblical aspect of our sexuality and sex without taboo or fear creates a great platform to discuss my next point.
#3. Talk to your kids about porn - start today!!
Once our kids know about their bodies and what the Bible says about sex, we have to begin teaching our kids what to think about how the world views sex. In today's normal society, porn is an acceptable and expected form of sexuality. In fact, you and I have to change our perspective about porn. It's no longer an "IF" my children will see porn, it's a matter of "WHEN".
I hate that. I really do.
Porn is, in my book, the single most destructive tool that satan is using against families, marriages, relationships and individuals today. Society portrays porn as "normal", its portrayed as funny, expected, harmless, and "everybody does it". What it doesn't show are the broken families in the shadow of porn, the husband who no longer finds pleasure in his wife, the silent killer of marriages, the destroyer of respect for human beings, the abuse and destructive cycle that porn perpetuates...
Did you know that the average age of internet porn exposure is 8 years old?? 8!! I expect this age will continue to get younger as parents are giving smart phones to kids at a younger age.
Speaking of that - Do us all a favor - don't hand your kids a smart phone, tablet, iPad etc for their birthday without knowing exactly what you are giving them. Set up parental controls, filters, contracts... Otherwise you are handing your child a ticking time bomb that will wreak havoc in their little minds and in your life.
Listen, if you don't remember anything else, please, please remember this: The porn industry is LOOKING for your kid. These moguls have set up a system that literally prowls around, waiting to devour our children, teens, husbands, us... We need to be proactively setting up boundaries to prepare for that moment when (not IF - WHEN) the porn industry comes to steal away our kids's innocence and replace it with a false reality about sex, women, men, and relationships. Porn is no respector of persons - porn doesn't care how old you are, how much money you make, what family you come from, if you love your spouse... porn's purpose is about getting you hooked and coming back for more. Like a drug that slowly sucks away anything good in your life. Porn kills. We need to be ready to combat it.
Start a conversation, bring it up. Bite the bullet and casually ask if they've ever seen any inappropriate pictures on the internet, at a friends house, on an iPhone...
Links:
When Children View Porn - Focus on the Family
Porn Proof Kids
Pornography Addiction: 3 tips to keep kids safe online
5 Ways to monitor handheld devices
Internet Monitoring Software
Parental Controls for Kids Electronic Devices
Freedom from the porn trap
Christianity Today: Pornography
#4. When your kids make a mistake try not to freak out on them
Lets face it, we are all going to make mistakes. No one comes out of their childhood, teen years or college years unscathed... did you? More importantly, when you did make those mistakes, did you talk about them with your parents? Me.... erm.... NO. I did not have safe communication with my parents and we rarely talked about anything of importance - let alone sex.
Nate and I have spoken to our kids about our past mistakes, both sexually, socially and spiritually (keeping it age appropriate of course). We have tried to portray to them that we are NOT perfect people which means that we are naturally, imperfect parents. In some areas we have failed at this due to some serious legalism that we are coming out of (another future post) and that legalism leaks into our parenting at times. But, for the most part, we have had some amazing conversations about failures, struggles and worries. We keep trying to point back to the grace of God and His ultimate love for us, even when we fail miserably.
We all fail, we all make mistakes. Make it a goal to facilitate open communication in your home. If you've failed at open communication in the past, don't give up, try again. I beleive the thing that hinder most of us parents from creating an environment of openness is fear. "What if I don't like what my kids say?" "What if I don't agree with, want to hear or understand what my kid is saying?" "I'm afraid they already know too much..." "What if they are doing...." "What if _______ has already happened to them?"
Don't be afraid. Kick your own butt out of the corner, get back in the ring, You can do this. We can do this. I can do this. Don't be afraid of fear.
Last year, our 10 year old son came home from a swim party and in the car (this is his favorite place to drop F-bombs on us I guess) he asked, "Mom, what's ________? Some of the boys I didn't know were talking about __________ and ________ and said __________. " Oh my word. Now, I did not know what he was talking about, no clue actually, but I knew it had to be super sexual - my ears were ringing, I was fighting the impulse to freak out (rightly so!!) but I knew he was trusting me by asking this question. As calmly as I could, I said, "You know, I'm not sure. Lets talk to Dad about it when we get home."
I did it. A triumph as a mom, I maintained my cool, I didn't let it shake me visibly (Inside I was vomiting in a bucket repeatedly) and when we got home we invited his dad into the conversation. We were cool calm and collected. It wasn't until my blonde, blue eyed boy went to bed that I allowed myself to freak out, cry, rage and vent about how angry I was that our kid was exposed to something derogatory at a swim party. (Oh and you can better believe I had those birthday party moms on the phone that night getting to the bottom of it.)
Warpath. Me. Face Paint.
The simple fact of the matter is, no matter how diligent, open or careful we are as parents, we wont be able to shelter our kids from every negative outside influence, unfortunate incident or inappropriate media exposure. That's why daily, day to day, open communication is VITAL.
No kid is exempt from failure. No parent is free from mistakes. The key is to keep talking through our failures, keep loving in the middle of our mistakes and reaching out to others when we fall and can't get up alone. My prayer for us is that we keep going, keep fighting, and keep turning to the One who Created us all for help.
How about you? Any tips to add on talking to your kids about sex? Ever felt like a failure in parenting?
Share with me, I'd love to hear.
P.S. I have a guest Blogger posting next week and a give away - stay tuned!!
So, because we are a little bit of a self proclaimed "nerdy" family who loves science, nature and Lord of the Rings (wait, that doesn't fit? Says who?) we've watched the Discovery Channel, Crocodile Hunter, Animal Planet, Nat Geo etc. together as a family since my kids were born.
Anyone familiar with these shows knows that sooner or later, you're going to see/hear lions mating, chimpanzees nursing, mommy aye-aye's delivering little baby aye-ayes that look like the spawn of Satan (seriously - see one here if you dare) and all sorts of various 'circle of life' moments *cue Lion King music*.
Instead of grabbing the remote and flipping to
Naturally, these moments led to all sorts of interesting conversation topics and comments:
"What is that Daddy Lion doing?" (perfect cue in to talk about the "birds and the bees"...)
"Mom, was I as hairy as the baby gorilla when I was born?"
"Whoa! That's huge!"
"Did you carry me in a pouch?"
*card from my son on Mothers Day - age 6* "Thanks for not eating me when I was really little. Also, thanks for not making me eat my own poo. You're the best Mom I ever had! Happy Mothers Day!"
(Yes folks, it really is that easy to be the be awarded Mother of the Year status. Take Notes: #1. Don't cannabalize your kid #2 Don't make your kid eat poo. You're welcome.)
and one of my favorite remembered conversations with my then 4 year old daughter...
"Mom, I was in your belly right?" "Yup, that's right." "And I was in there for almost a year, right?" "Yup." "So, how did I get out of your belly???" *crickets* "Well..." *CRAP! Thinking fast under pressure* "I kind of...ummm... laid you... like an egg!" *silence* "Like an egg?" "Yup, kind of like a chicken lays an egg." "So, I came out of your bottom?" "Umm, yes, kind of..." (Honestly, I had no idea where we were going to go with this as I was NOT prepared to talk about this with my 4 year old yet.) Silence and then hysterical laughter as she runs out of the room screaming, "T!!! Guess what?? Mom pooped me out of her butt like an egg-turd!!!! Dad! Did you know about this?????? Isn't that disgusting?????? *Laying on floor laughing* hahahahaahahahah!"
Ok, so, I wasn't prepared. That's my fault. Good thing she didn't share with her Sunday school about it...
Seriously people, we parents have to have a plan BEFORE these conversations come up.
N and T were driving home one day from a "man date" a few years ago, and talking about sharks versus sperm whales (I told you we were a nerdy family) when T out of the blue asked, "Dad, I know that boys have the sperm, and girls have the eggs, but how does the sperm get to the egg?"
I'm fairly certain at this point Nate would have been comfortable with driving the car off the road to avoid this conversation, but instead, he gripped the steering wheel and concentrated very hard on the lane ahead of him. "So, you're asking me how the sperm meets the egg?" "Yes, Dad. How." "Well....."
T came home from that conversation, wide eyed and in a rush. Bounding into the kitchen where I was standing, he said, "Dad just told me about sex. I want kids, but I am not doing that. I'm just going to adopt." He then scampered from the room to detox from his conversation with his dad, while Nate and I just looked at each other. Nate shrugged. I, on the other hand, stressed over whether or not Nate had scarred him for life and how much therapy was going to cost in the future.
It was shortly after this talk that I jumped online and bought "The Story of Me - God's design for sex" and we read them together as a family.
Now, I'm going to give a disclaimer: I am NOT a licensed parenting expert. I do not have a degree in child development, but, N and I have worked our dang butts off trying to keep open lines of communication with our kids and feel like we have done a semi decent job in spite of our fear of this topic in today's deranged society.
My point with this post is not to come across as a know it all or expert - which I clearly am not - but as a mom that just wants to encourage other parents who feel ill-equipped, scared or unprepared. I want to encourage each of you to keep at it and share your mistakes and triumphs - we can learn from one another.
As parents, we should be the FIRST people to talk to our kids about sex, healthy sexuality, sexual abuse safety, pornography etc. Now, keep in mind, this list is by no means an exhaustive one, and each family is going to have their own approach, convictions and beliefs in this area. I'm just touching on points that we have used with our kids and links to some resources that we've either used or have received positive feed back on. So read on at your own risk. =)
My advice on how to maintain an ongoing healthy conversation with your kids about sex.
#1. Use the real terminology for their body parts and start at a young age.
Since our kids were little, we have always used the scientific name for their body parts. Partly due to the fact that it annoys me when grown ups say things like "Now, Johnny, don't play with your willy!" Bah. What will poor Johnny do when he befriends a little boy named William aka "Willy". How confused will he be?
What about a little girl whose mother has affectionately referred to her parts as her "tee-tee, shi-shi, who-haa" or other various silly sounding names? Why do her body parts have to have the same nick-names as Kim Kardashians designer dog? (I'm just guessing on the Kim reference... but it sounds fairly accurate to me).
Now, calling their body parts by the scientific names has had its bumps too... Like that one time in Target when T made up a song to commemorate his err,
Start young, teach your kids the scientific names for their body. When they are older, discuss all the various slang terminology (this one is tough for a mother of a middle-schooler - trust me) for that specific body part but always bring it back to what it is actually called. Take the taboo off of talking about their body parts.
The Story of Me: Gods design for sex series
Amazing You: Getting smart about your private parts
The Boys Body Book Ages 7-12
The Care and Keeping of you: Girls ages 7-12
#2. Talk about God's design for sex.
We need to be talking about God and His view on sex often and openly.
Here's the kicker.
It seems as though most churches of today are silent on the topic of sex or approach it from what I call a "red light, green light" stand point.
RED LIGHT: Don't have sex before you're married. Bad sex, Bad!
GREEN LIGHT: Ok! You're married now - go have all the sex you want!! Good Sex, Good!
(Dr Seuss could've had an adult best seller on his hand with that one...)
With the "Red Light, Green Light" mentality and the general silence of churches on the topic of all things sex related, is it no wonder that our christian youth are ill equipped or feel like total failures when they have sex outside of marriage or experience other forms of "sexual failure"?? Whelp, I digress, That's a whole 'nother stream of thoughts that I'll have to come back to at another post.
Our churches might not talk about sex, but the Bible does and frequently. Ever hear of the Song of Solomon? Note: Giving your kid a message Bible and a goal to read the Bible in a year DOES in fact include this book... hahahah!
Talking to our kids about God's design for sex, and the very fact that we were created in His image and that human sexuality is perfectly normal in the realm of healthy Christianity is so important.
God created us as sexual creatures who desire intimacy and closeness.
Sex was created to 1. procreate 2. Bring joy and closeness in Mom and Dads relationship 3. Point us back to the total love of the Creator. As your kids get older, you can go more in depth in these topics... like timing (what 15 year old is truly ready to procreate??) respecting the other gender... you get the idea. If you're not sure what God's view on sex is, check out some of the links below.
Links
Talk about Sex - Focus on the Family
Sex: God, Gross or Gift? - Marshill Church
How and when to talk to your kids about sex
Almost 12 - the story of sex
The Sex Talk: a survival guide for parents
Elephant in the Room: Gods Design for Marriage, Sex Dating
Parenting & Teaching about Sex
Teaching the healthy Biblical aspect of our sexuality and sex without taboo or fear creates a great platform to discuss my next point.
#3. Talk to your kids about porn - start today!!
Once our kids know about their bodies and what the Bible says about sex, we have to begin teaching our kids what to think about how the world views sex. In today's normal society, porn is an acceptable and expected form of sexuality. In fact, you and I have to change our perspective about porn. It's no longer an "IF" my children will see porn, it's a matter of "WHEN".
I hate that. I really do.
Porn is, in my book, the single most destructive tool that satan is using against families, marriages, relationships and individuals today. Society portrays porn as "normal", its portrayed as funny, expected, harmless, and "everybody does it". What it doesn't show are the broken families in the shadow of porn, the husband who no longer finds pleasure in his wife, the silent killer of marriages, the destroyer of respect for human beings, the abuse and destructive cycle that porn perpetuates...
Did you know that the average age of internet porn exposure is 8 years old?? 8!! I expect this age will continue to get younger as parents are giving smart phones to kids at a younger age.
Speaking of that - Do us all a favor - don't hand your kids a smart phone, tablet, iPad etc for their birthday without knowing exactly what you are giving them. Set up parental controls, filters, contracts... Otherwise you are handing your child a ticking time bomb that will wreak havoc in their little minds and in your life.
Listen, if you don't remember anything else, please, please remember this: The porn industry is LOOKING for your kid. These moguls have set up a system that literally prowls around, waiting to devour our children, teens, husbands, us... We need to be proactively setting up boundaries to prepare for that moment when (not IF - WHEN) the porn industry comes to steal away our kids's innocence and replace it with a false reality about sex, women, men, and relationships. Porn is no respector of persons - porn doesn't care how old you are, how much money you make, what family you come from, if you love your spouse... porn's purpose is about getting you hooked and coming back for more. Like a drug that slowly sucks away anything good in your life. Porn kills. We need to be ready to combat it.
Start a conversation, bring it up. Bite the bullet and casually ask if they've ever seen any inappropriate pictures on the internet, at a friends house, on an iPhone...
Links:
When Children View Porn - Focus on the Family
Porn Proof Kids
Pornography Addiction: 3 tips to keep kids safe online
5 Ways to monitor handheld devices
Internet Monitoring Software
Parental Controls for Kids Electronic Devices
Freedom from the porn trap
Christianity Today: Pornography
#4. When your kids make a mistake try not to freak out on them
Lets face it, we are all going to make mistakes. No one comes out of their childhood, teen years or college years unscathed... did you? More importantly, when you did make those mistakes, did you talk about them with your parents? Me.... erm.... NO. I did not have safe communication with my parents and we rarely talked about anything of importance - let alone sex.
Nate and I have spoken to our kids about our past mistakes, both sexually, socially and spiritually (keeping it age appropriate of course). We have tried to portray to them that we are NOT perfect people which means that we are naturally, imperfect parents. In some areas we have failed at this due to some serious legalism that we are coming out of (another future post) and that legalism leaks into our parenting at times. But, for the most part, we have had some amazing conversations about failures, struggles and worries. We keep trying to point back to the grace of God and His ultimate love for us, even when we fail miserably.
We all fail, we all make mistakes. Make it a goal to facilitate open communication in your home. If you've failed at open communication in the past, don't give up, try again. I beleive the thing that hinder most of us parents from creating an environment of openness is fear. "What if I don't like what my kids say?" "What if I don't agree with, want to hear or understand what my kid is saying?" "I'm afraid they already know too much..." "What if they are doing...." "What if _______ has already happened to them?"
Don't be afraid. Kick your own butt out of the corner, get back in the ring, You can do this. We can do this. I can do this. Don't be afraid of fear.
Last year, our 10 year old son came home from a swim party and in the car (this is his favorite place to drop F-bombs on us I guess) he asked, "Mom, what's ________? Some of the boys I didn't know were talking about __________ and ________ and said __________. " Oh my word. Now, I did not know what he was talking about, no clue actually, but I knew it had to be super sexual - my ears were ringing, I was fighting the impulse to freak out (rightly so!!) but I knew he was trusting me by asking this question. As calmly as I could, I said, "You know, I'm not sure. Lets talk to Dad about it when we get home."
I did it. A triumph as a mom, I maintained my cool, I didn't let it shake me visibly (Inside I was vomiting in a bucket repeatedly) and when we got home we invited his dad into the conversation. We were cool calm and collected. It wasn't until my blonde, blue eyed boy went to bed that I allowed myself to freak out, cry, rage and vent about how angry I was that our kid was exposed to something derogatory at a swim party. (Oh and you can better believe I had those birthday party moms on the phone that night getting to the bottom of it.)
Warpath. Me. Face Paint.
The simple fact of the matter is, no matter how diligent, open or careful we are as parents, we wont be able to shelter our kids from every negative outside influence, unfortunate incident or inappropriate media exposure. That's why daily, day to day, open communication is VITAL.
No kid is exempt from failure. No parent is free from mistakes. The key is to keep talking through our failures, keep loving in the middle of our mistakes and reaching out to others when we fall and can't get up alone. My prayer for us is that we keep going, keep fighting, and keep turning to the One who Created us all for help.
How about you? Any tips to add on talking to your kids about sex? Ever felt like a failure in parenting?
Share with me, I'd love to hear.
P.S. I have a guest Blogger posting next week and a give away - stay tuned!!
Wednesday, May 21, 2014
Growing up... it happens to the best of us. Talking to your kids about sex. Part #1
We all start the same way, right?
We are born, naked, toothless, most of us bald - I was until I was 2, my mom used Elmer's glue to pop bows on my bald noggin so as not to be confused with a boy - and totally dependent upon others for our complete and total care.
Along the journey of life, teeth come in, we graduate from liquids to solids, we learn to walk, talk, identify colors, read, and a plethora of other day to day basics and foundational building blocks. As we mature, our level of learning advances and delves deeper into this realm we call "life". We learn about family, money, neighborhoods, government, continents, social hierarchy, mathematical equations, conjugating verbs, and ... it goes on and on.
This is all expected. This is how life is supposed to be, right?
As mother to two kids, this process is HARD. I celebrate my children overcoming milestones and learning new things. I do...But there is one thing I was not so excited to face.
That would be my kids learning about sex...
There I said "it".
S--E--X
(the above word will lead to all kinds of interesting traffic on my blog, eh? If you're a creeper you can leave now OK?)
S--E--X
The three letter word that my very conservative mother would never say and if she even heard it would mutter, "Oh Jesus!" after hearing such profanity.
In fact, the idea of explaining the birds and the bees was such a tough concept that I was 17 before she mustered up enough courage to say.... "There comes a time when every girl becomes a woman..."
Erm....
This, of course, went over SO well with me at that point of life. There may have been some eye rolling, foot stomping and serious teen sassiness pointed in her general direction. Yup, true story.
The fact was... She was late. WAY too late. She lost the window of opportunity to talk to me about the "birds and the bees" or any other topic of importance really.
I can't blame her entirely though, my mother came from an era of silence.
Sexualized scenarios weren't broadcast all over national television for all to see. "Sex and the City" and it's cast of characters wouldn't have been shown in neighborhood theaters, actually, it might not have even made it to a slummy brothel. If a man committed adultery, he would have been ostracized from his community and his name spread through the mud. A woman with loose morals would have a hard time finding employment, friends, let alone an environment of opportunity. Innuendos would be shunned from mainstream society and sex wasn't spoken openly. Most TV shows from my mothers era would show a husband and wife sleeping in separate beds in order not to imply sexuality, not the partial nudity that you can get on prime-time television nowadays. Of course people had sex, but they didn't talk about it.
Fast forward 60+ some-odd years and sex is everywhere. The coined phrase "Sex sells" is demonstrated in full swing in our society and is unfortunately rubbing off on the youngest of generations.
As moms in today's mainstream over-sexed world, we have our hands full.
It makes me laugh (in a "that's not really funny or fair" kind of way) - as if we moms didn't already have ENOUGH to do - laundry, dishes, shaving our legs, managing chores and household tasks, grocery lists, healthy food researching, working out, dealing with kids, husbands, dogs, neighbors, family re-unions, summer vacations, math homework, science fair projects....
Moms (and Dads) are required to carry the load AND create a safe environment where our kids can come talk to us about their life's questions. Slowing down enough to really listen to the heart behind the chatter and truly see our kids when they come to us.
Me? Well, when confronted with a tough question in the midst of my busy day, I tend to sermonize for 20 minutes without slowing down, taking a breath and listening to what was really asked or said. This can be especially damaging when our kids want to talk to us about serious topics. Topics I don't really feel like they should have to deal with, talk about, know about, think about... Like sex, drugs, masturbation, porn, abuse, bullying, homosexuality...
But they do. They know. They talk. They deal. They think. Everyday. You might not think they do, oh, but they do.
It seems that sooner and sooner the "innocence" is taken from the kids of today. It's life. Sad, but true. There's no stopping it. No keeping kids from it. No moving to a commune to live off the grid like the Ingalls family, miles from town and bad influences like Nelly Olsen, sewing your own clothes, milking your own cow, butchering your own grass fed beef... What?? Ok, so I've contemplated it. Sue me.
No.
We have to teach our kids how to have the right eyes to view these topics with, give them the tools to understand, process and hopefully navigate through this mucky area. Parents need to get their game faces on, snap the crotch-cups in place and get ready to go down swinging.
I remember the day that we realized that we needed to get our heads out of the sand and into the game.
It started out on a typical Sunday...
On our way home from church, music playing softly on the radio, Nate and I perched in the front seat, wearing our Sunday best, waving "goodbye" to friends in the church parking lot. (Oh yes, the picture of a perfect Christian family.)
T (who was almost 7) was in a full animated conversation with his little sister.
"So, there is a really bad "F" word..."
Overhearing and being curious as to what he was referring to - I really was hoping it was referencing the phrase "Oh Fudgescicles! Oh Freakazoids! Oh Fart!" - I hesitantly asked him what he meant.
Then the bomb dropped... a kick to the crotch (and we weren't ready - our cups weren't on).
The big, nasty, loathesome "F" bomb came out of that sweet, little mouth seemingly in slow motion.
" F*@#^!!!"
That sickly consonant resonated in the interior of our car and I fought against a near panic attack while white knuckling the door handle. Nate looked like he swallowed his tie and I'm sure I was a shade of chartreuse green.
There was total silence in the car, even the radio seemed to know something big had just happened and was appropriately playing a soft melody that sounded like a funeral dirge. Appropriate, for our ignorant picturesque parenting facade had just died. Killed. Shot through the heart.
No going back.
Slowly, very slowly, as to avoid any sign of over reaction, and trying not to hyperventilate, we sat in silence for a few seconds. We took deep breaths and started the conversation about this taboo word. After much talk about using words that we don't know the meaning to, how society creates cuss words and how we represent ourselves when we use cuss words in everyday conversations, my son seemed to catch the point.
That is, until the next Sunday during children's ministry, when T raised his hands during prayer time and said "We need to pray that no one in our class says "F*#^(;"!! - it's not pleasing to God..." - Yes, I am the mother to that little boy that just dropped the mother-of-all curse words in Sunday school circle time... Parent's of the children in that class, I beg your forgiveness... Ya'll don't even know the conversations we had to have to clean that mess up. When a bunch of 6 and 7 year olds go home telling their parents the F word and who they learned it from... Fun times I tell you.
As time has progressed, I realize how that little conversation sparked something in my family and since that conversation, we've had many moments like that one.... F-Bombs. Where life comes rushing in, stealing innocence and sucks all the air out of the room for a minute. The F-bomb came into our car and with it came the realization that we can't hide from life and its influences - good or bad.
Each of us starts out the same way. Little babies. Dependent and innocent little sinners (what an appropriate oxy-moron). And, at some point, each of us learns about sex.
All of us...
Look around, every man, woman, teen, grandpa and grandma learned about sex at some point or another in their life. The question is, HOW did they learn about it? From whom did they learn about it? Was it unjustly learned through the vicious act of sexual abuse? From an acquaintance on the playground? A movie? Book? Pornography? Older brother? Sister?
Or....
Was sex something explained by a parent? In love and open ongoing conversation?
It's all in taking a breath and responding with our cups on to the F-bombs our kids and society drop on us.
What about you? How do you want your kids to learn about the S-word? Have you started the conversation? Who taught you about sex?
(Part 2 will talk more about how to talk to your kids about S--E--X and list some great resources).
We are born, naked, toothless, most of us bald - I was until I was 2, my mom used Elmer's glue to pop bows on my bald noggin so as not to be confused with a boy - and totally dependent upon others for our complete and total care.
Along the journey of life, teeth come in, we graduate from liquids to solids, we learn to walk, talk, identify colors, read, and a plethora of other day to day basics and foundational building blocks. As we mature, our level of learning advances and delves deeper into this realm we call "life". We learn about family, money, neighborhoods, government, continents, social hierarchy, mathematical equations, conjugating verbs, and ... it goes on and on.
This is all expected. This is how life is supposed to be, right?
As mother to two kids, this process is HARD. I celebrate my children overcoming milestones and learning new things. I do...But there is one thing I was not so excited to face.
That would be my kids learning about sex...
There I said "it".
S--E--X
(the above word will lead to all kinds of interesting traffic on my blog, eh? If you're a creeper you can leave now OK?)
S--E--X
The three letter word that my very conservative mother would never say and if she even heard it would mutter, "Oh Jesus!" after hearing such profanity.
In fact, the idea of explaining the birds and the bees was such a tough concept that I was 17 before she mustered up enough courage to say.... "There comes a time when every girl becomes a woman..."
Erm....
This, of course, went over SO well with me at that point of life. There may have been some eye rolling, foot stomping and serious teen sassiness pointed in her general direction. Yup, true story.
The fact was... She was late. WAY too late. She lost the window of opportunity to talk to me about the "birds and the bees" or any other topic of importance really.
I can't blame her entirely though, my mother came from an era of silence.
Sexualized scenarios weren't broadcast all over national television for all to see. "Sex and the City" and it's cast of characters wouldn't have been shown in neighborhood theaters, actually, it might not have even made it to a slummy brothel. If a man committed adultery, he would have been ostracized from his community and his name spread through the mud. A woman with loose morals would have a hard time finding employment, friends, let alone an environment of opportunity. Innuendos would be shunned from mainstream society and sex wasn't spoken openly. Most TV shows from my mothers era would show a husband and wife sleeping in separate beds in order not to imply sexuality, not the partial nudity that you can get on prime-time television nowadays. Of course people had sex, but they didn't talk about it.
Fast forward 60+ some-odd years and sex is everywhere. The coined phrase "Sex sells" is demonstrated in full swing in our society and is unfortunately rubbing off on the youngest of generations.
As moms in today's mainstream over-sexed world, we have our hands full.
It makes me laugh (in a "that's not really funny or fair" kind of way) - as if we moms didn't already have ENOUGH to do - laundry, dishes, shaving our legs, managing chores and household tasks, grocery lists, healthy food researching, working out, dealing with kids, husbands, dogs, neighbors, family re-unions, summer vacations, math homework, science fair projects....
Moms (and Dads) are required to carry the load AND create a safe environment where our kids can come talk to us about their life's questions. Slowing down enough to really listen to the heart behind the chatter and truly see our kids when they come to us.
Me? Well, when confronted with a tough question in the midst of my busy day, I tend to sermonize for 20 minutes without slowing down, taking a breath and listening to what was really asked or said. This can be especially damaging when our kids want to talk to us about serious topics. Topics I don't really feel like they should have to deal with, talk about, know about, think about... Like sex, drugs, masturbation, porn, abuse, bullying, homosexuality...
But they do. They know. They talk. They deal. They think. Everyday. You might not think they do, oh, but they do.
It seems that sooner and sooner the "innocence" is taken from the kids of today. It's life. Sad, but true. There's no stopping it. No keeping kids from it. No moving to a commune to live off the grid like the Ingalls family, miles from town and bad influences like Nelly Olsen, sewing your own clothes, milking your own cow, butchering your own grass fed beef... What?? Ok, so I've contemplated it. Sue me.
No.
We have to teach our kids how to have the right eyes to view these topics with, give them the tools to understand, process and hopefully navigate through this mucky area. Parents need to get their game faces on, snap the crotch-cups in place and get ready to go down swinging.
I remember the day that we realized that we needed to get our heads out of the sand and into the game.
It started out on a typical Sunday...
On our way home from church, music playing softly on the radio, Nate and I perched in the front seat, wearing our Sunday best, waving "goodbye" to friends in the church parking lot. (Oh yes, the picture of a perfect Christian family.)
T (who was almost 7) was in a full animated conversation with his little sister.
"So, there is a really bad "F" word..."
Overhearing and being curious as to what he was referring to - I really was hoping it was referencing the phrase "Oh Fudgescicles! Oh Freakazoids! Oh Fart!" - I hesitantly asked him what he meant.
Then the bomb dropped... a kick to the crotch (and we weren't ready - our cups weren't on).
The big, nasty, loathesome "F" bomb came out of that sweet, little mouth seemingly in slow motion.
" F*@#^!!!"
That sickly consonant resonated in the interior of our car and I fought against a near panic attack while white knuckling the door handle. Nate looked like he swallowed his tie and I'm sure I was a shade of chartreuse green.
There was total silence in the car, even the radio seemed to know something big had just happened and was appropriately playing a soft melody that sounded like a funeral dirge. Appropriate, for our ignorant picturesque parenting facade had just died. Killed. Shot through the heart.
No going back.
Slowly, very slowly, as to avoid any sign of over reaction, and trying not to hyperventilate, we sat in silence for a few seconds. We took deep breaths and started the conversation about this taboo word. After much talk about using words that we don't know the meaning to, how society creates cuss words and how we represent ourselves when we use cuss words in everyday conversations, my son seemed to catch the point.
That is, until the next Sunday during children's ministry, when T raised his hands during prayer time and said "We need to pray that no one in our class says "F*#^(;"!! - it's not pleasing to God..." - Yes, I am the mother to that little boy that just dropped the mother-of-all curse words in Sunday school circle time... Parent's of the children in that class, I beg your forgiveness... Ya'll don't even know the conversations we had to have to clean that mess up. When a bunch of 6 and 7 year olds go home telling their parents the F word and who they learned it from... Fun times I tell you.
As time has progressed, I realize how that little conversation sparked something in my family and since that conversation, we've had many moments like that one.... F-Bombs. Where life comes rushing in, stealing innocence and sucks all the air out of the room for a minute. The F-bomb came into our car and with it came the realization that we can't hide from life and its influences - good or bad.
Each of us starts out the same way. Little babies. Dependent and innocent little sinners (what an appropriate oxy-moron). And, at some point, each of us learns about sex.
All of us...
Look around, every man, woman, teen, grandpa and grandma learned about sex at some point or another in their life. The question is, HOW did they learn about it? From whom did they learn about it? Was it unjustly learned through the vicious act of sexual abuse? From an acquaintance on the playground? A movie? Book? Pornography? Older brother? Sister?
Or....
Was sex something explained by a parent? In love and open ongoing conversation?
It's all in taking a breath and responding with our cups on to the F-bombs our kids and society drop on us.
What about you? How do you want your kids to learn about the S-word? Have you started the conversation? Who taught you about sex?
(Part 2 will talk more about how to talk to your kids about S--E--X and list some great resources).
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