"So, You're Growing up."

Over the past few weeks, the oldest has been coming to hubby and I with "the questions". We don't pull any punches and we don't beat around the bush with her. We've always been completely honest about bodies (without getting too graphic). I recognize that not all parents handle the "questions" in the same manner that we do and we've talked to her about appropriateness and tact; the world shouldn't have to endure all of her questions (said kindly, of course).

Unfortunately, she has sometimes forgotten that only the parents should be privy to the questions. Grandma (my mother-in-law) got a dose of them, while she was visiting us. She called my husband in sort of a panic about the words she was using. Well, my mother-in-law doesn't discuss sex, much less use any words to describe body parts. She's from a different era; you make lots of babies, you just don't discuss how it's done. She was mortified to hear my 5 year old asking about such things! My hubby was successful in calming her down and I reinterated to the babe that only mommy and daddy should be included in such discussions.

Yesterday, the teacher called. Oh, goodness. I felt so bad and she was so embarrassed! Before picking up either of my girls, I called hubby and told him we needed to talk to her about tact again, together. When we got home, we sat her down to talk and she immediately went into the, "I've done something bad" mode. Poor thing. I told her several times that she wasn't in trouble and that what she was asking about wasn't bad, but that she did need to limit the conversations with mom and dad, only. Phew! And I gotta do this again in five years? Oi, vey!

At first, I was so concerned that she was asking so early, but it really shouldn't surprise me. The television is littered with sexual innuendo and just out and out sex (especially if you watch Fox). I was probably seven when I first discovered what all the noise was about. Being one of the first kids on my street to get cable, the service came equiped with the Playboy channel. It wasn't long before the neighborhood kids were living at my house. As soon as my parents found out what was going on, they were livid, but made sure to keep it cool. After all, sex is not a bad thing...I just shouldn't have been showing soft porn to half the neighborhood.

Had I not made that discovery, I suppose my next exposure would have come from school and we all know what happens when you hear things from school. I didn't want my babe subjected to the fairy tales that are constructed on school play grounds. That's the stuff of nightmares, I gotta tell yah.

By the time I was ten, I needed a bra. Ten! Ugh! And, we're not talking the cutsie training bras with the bow. Oh, no. I was long past that. I went to the lingerie section with my mother and nearly passed out when we bypassed all the bras my friends were wearing and went straight for the "over the shoulder boulder holders". Being a preteen with super boobs was so not fun. With little girls developing younger and younger, I wonder if these questions are just one more indicator? I know being tiny doesn't really mean anything but, I really hope she doesn't have to endure the pre pubesent boost I got as a child. Stay a little kid for as long as you can, little babe.