Wigawee Wigawee

Kelan has a problem pronouncing his "L's" - so what he's really saying is, "wiggly wiggly". The sad part is, he's usually holding my bottom when he says this. There's a part of me that just wants to cover up in embarrassment when he does this, but then I remember, it's not embarrassing to him. He just sees things in this world as they are. My bottom is no longer the "buns of steel" they once were (okay, maybe they were never steel, but they were NOT jello). I guess the combination of 2 kids, no time to work out like I should and the bowl of ice cream each night gets me: wigawee wigawee.

That said, I am trying to teach my children a healthy/positive attitude about body image and sex. I know, I know - they are only (almost) 3 and 1 years of age - but I would like to set the stage where our bodies and sex are something we can talk about. That these topics are not taboo and there is nothing to be embarrassed about.

I took a "birds+bees+kids" class with my other co op preschool parents a couple of months ago. It was a class to learn how to talk to your kids about sex and our bodies. Great class. However I was amazed when the teacher said that children should know about sex by the age of five. Five!?! Yep, five. She wasn't talking about the down and dirty details, but just the basics and the real names of body parts. I was a little surprised, but then learned that it's better to learn from your parents (and not their friends who may not have a healthy outlook) and establish trust to talk about important and hard topics. Additionally, we can hope that our kids can learn to have a voice in the awful chance of an inappropriate relationship.

She went on to say that the conversations that you have with your preschooler are about 2 minutes over many months. They are not embarrassing to them (although the parents may not be breathing throughout those couple of minutes). In fact the first time I read this book, "What's the Big Secret" (a introduction to sex for young children), Kelan listened and then said "okay.... let's play trains". The teacher was right, he wasn't embarrassed, just curious in the same way as his wanting to know about how trains work.

Our teacher went on to say that these 2 minute conversations over the next couple of years are WAY easier than attempting your first "sex" conversation with a teenager. Makes sense. Set the stage for an open un-ending conversation now.

So I now try to answer Kelan the best way I can (and will do the same for Lauren) when he asks what my breasts are, what my vagina is, what his penis is, etc. Easier said than done, but I'm working on it.

Right now he's asking what tampons are. I take a deep breath - then answer. He now has a new phrase, "that tampon for your gina?". Is it better than wigawee wigawee? Hard to say.