Let's talk about Sex, baby!
I remember when I was a wee child, my playmates would bring balloons to school that smelled awful. Years later, I realized what those ‘ultra long balloons’ were and feel horrified at the thought of kids stumbling upon parent’s hidden stash of unmentionables (you know, condoms, cheap sex toys and the like). Of course, kids don’t know about those yet, but it’s disconcerting to find out the hard way that we as parents didn’t stash our “mommy’s and daddy’s things” well enough.
Fortunately for every parent now, the society we live in is more lenient and liberal. Now, they have sex education as early as high school and in some cases, they use sex toys to demonstrate how to put on condoms (I guess the proverbial ‘condom on a banana’ didn’t work in the past, right?). But still, parents should take care of their stuff more if they don’t want their kids using their imagination while looking at a shoe box-full of adult toys and stuff.
I think one of the many mysteries of life is the fact that kids won’t usually think of their parents as ‘couples’. To them, we’re just ‘mom and dad’ and nothing more. Ask any teener now if their parents still make love and you’ll get this answer … “eeww gross”. They just cannot imagine it.
However, it still cannot be denied that parents should be the ones to talk to kids about sex. I think it’s much better if parents themselves opened up the topic, because really, there’s no stopping the media from spreading marketing-oriented material about sex. Children will learn about it one way or another anyway.
If your child inadvertently sees you in the act of sex, or accidentally see your sex toys lying around, take the opportunity to discuss sex and sexuality, and the role of these factors in a person’s development.
Explain to them that it’s a natural part of life and who they are as individuals. If you’re so inclined, you can even discuss the concepts of what’s pure and impure, good and bad, what “dirty” jokes mean and why it’s improper to use “filthy” sex-oriented language that is demeaning when one considers the importance of sex in procreation. Instead of letting media and society “pollute” your children’s young minds, be the one to clear up the issue. This way, your kids will be able to cope better during early adulthood.
