Anyone who’s seen me talk in the last week and a half knows I’m gearing up to talk to my kid about rape and sexual assault. Blech, I know, but it must be done!
He’s 10 – and this is just about right for getting this hard to hear, innocence rocking info. Kim and I have a go at this notion of “innocence” on this week’s PYHOOYA Parenting Radio segment.
So here’s what I’m planning to say – after warning him that I want to talk to him about a “sex thing” a day or so before I do it. Poor guy, my last “sex thing” was porn.
“Most of the time, people agree to have sex – it’s something they want to do because it feels good to their grown up bodies and they want to be close and share their bodies this way.
Sometimes, one person will force another person to have sex or do sexual things. This is called rape and sexual assault and it is a pretty terrible thing when it happens. But nearly all the time, people have sex because they want to, it’s something they agree to do.
I’m telling you this because you have probably heard the word and wondered what it means and you are old enough now to know about some of this stuff. I wanted you to hear it from me first, rather than from your friends because it can be scary to learn about. Any thoughts on this?”
He will then run screaming from the room, cursing the day I ever started Birds + Bees + Kids.
Let me know how it went if you’ve already tackled this, would you? And if you are in the same boat as me, let me know how it goes.
