Katie’s post on earthworm reproduction got me thinking about how much we’ve covered with the kids – specifically Christopher. We’ve always used the correct terms for anatomy and answered questions as they come up regarding babies. We try to keep it simple and when they are 8 (if we can stall until then!) we plan to have a talk with them individually – both parents, one kid – and fill in any blanks. We got the “stall until 8” idea from this book. They don’t tell you to avoid all discussions, just to save the big part for eight. It also covers the continuing talks through young adulthood. It had a lot to ponder. The authors are LDS but they don’t write from that perspective really – they do suggest you share your morals and spirituals beliefs but they don’t get into their own.

Anyway, we’ve been answering questions as they come up, which of course they have with all the babies around here. Last night Kit and I were discussing what Christopher knows already… boys and girls have different body parts (uterus, vagina, eggs vs. testicles, penis, sperm) which is really funny when your four year old announces he’s having problems with his underwear and scrotum. And they know where the baby grows. He knows a tiny bit about puberty and how bodies change (nothing detailed like menstruation.) He knows the dad and mom both contribute parts for the baby to start growing, he knows about the amniotic sac and placenta and such that feed the baby. (Mo hears all of this, too, but I don’t know how much she’s retaining – she does say uterus.) They both know babies come out of vaginas (they’ve seen pictures in books and we let Christopher see some of Emy’s birth pictures.) Unless it’s a c-section, and Christopher knows all about that and why Bennett needed to come out that way.

We had to cover the uterus thing when we told him Mommy had a baby in her tummy and he got really upset since that’s where my food is and he didn’t want me to digest Bennett. He was three at the time. And I know some kids aren’t this literal and/or inquisitive but I was so what can I expect from my son? 🙂

So when we analyzed it we realize Christopher knows a LOT about anatomy and pregnancy, he just has no clue how the sperm and egg get together. That’s what I’m hoping to save for a few more years! Though when he first met Uncle Brian (coming to visit along with pregnant Aunt Christine) apparently one of his first questions for Uncle Brian was, “How did you get the baby inside of Aunt Christine?” They referred him back to me.

And he does understand how a boy or girl is determined, the x and y chromosome in the sperm. And we know he knows this because when his Sunday School teacher announced she was pregnant and he asked what gender the baby was, she said she didn’t know yet and he asked, “What kind of sperm did the man have?”

And these questions are why we’re hoping to wait a bit longer before giving him the logistics of sex. Reproduction, anatomy, puberty, I can handle all that. I don’t want him sharing the details of sex with his peers. As I told Katie – we need to cover discretion before we cover reproduction in depth.