I feel in the depths of my soul that if we want our children to know something it falls to us to teach them. At the top of this list (after manners and such) is the Birds and the Bees, as my mother would call it.
I am like everyone else my age, we learned about this in school. Separated from the boys, they learned about their anatomy and what to expect as puberty reared it’s ugly head, and we (girls) learned about periods, mood swings, and how boys would look at us differently soon. This was in the mid 80’s.
To some of you, this was the dark ages, to most of us it feels like yesterday. The fact remains that it was a time that most of us didn’t talk about this stuff with our parents. I didn’t. I had no idea what the male anatomy looked like until my best friend and I came across a Playgirl centerfold in an abandoned house one day. I was shocked!
Fast Forward to Today
Now in 2024 things have changed. So much so that if you had taken that 11 year old from 1986 and sent her here in a time machine, she wouldn’t believe her eyes! When my second child came home with her permission slip for Sexual Education at school, and the list of what that covered, I near fainted.
Disclaimer: I am not stating that these items should NOT be taught, I was just shocked they were being taught. I feel it’s important that this be a home conversation, though understanding not all children have that option.
After a conversation with my husband and our daughter we decided she was mature enough to sit with her classmates and listen to these lessons. Note: The sexes are no longer separated, something I still disagree with, as I feel it limits the questions both sides of the room may want to ask. Our daughter was adamant that she didn’t want to be singled out or feel “weird” being the only one leaving the room during this session. She was more worried about looking odd to be left out of the sex talk than the content of said talk.
That was our daughter. Next came…..the boy.
Every mother of sons will tell you they are geared differently. From the moment they take their first breath, they are different animals. This is why it is so very important that we teach our boys about sex and the female anatomy, periods, moods, and how to treat a woman at home. Because they learn differently. They need to hear it from us! Not their teachers, when they’ve already begun to experience the changes that puberty brings! Not their friends, Lord help us, who knows what they will learn from them!?
It falls to us, the parents, to teach our boys how and why their bodies and a woman’s body does what it does. Give them the truth of the matter, so they go into this class armed already with facts and not fiction. Knowing what they’re going to hear and see. We have to remember that we are raising men. Someone’s future husband and father. If we have any sense of obligation to the future generations we have to keep this in mind when we begin having children.
But that should fall to his Father!
Perhaps it should, that is up to your family and it’s dynamic. It needs to fall to the person who’s closest to the child and who they trust. Regardless of their roll in the child’s life. You know your dynamic better than anyone and you know your son better than anyone, but know this. If you don’t tell him, teach him, he will learn it elsewhere. Once it is learned, you can’t un-learn it. If you want a man who knows that women are to be treated equally, cherished when needed, loved, protected (so she will protect him back), a partner in life, someone that can bring life into the world and is basically a Goddess! Then teach your son about our bodies!
Hopefully he will be the one to teach his boys this lesson and maybe a few others along the way. What kind of world would we live in if men were educated this way? With love, kindness and understanding? One can dream. Because parenting isn’t for the weak! It is a big responsibility and we have to embrace all of it not just the easy parts. Do your son the favor of giving him the information that will help him in his adult life. An understanding of his partners unspoken life. She will thank you for it.
My Journey’s My Own 
Leave a comment