Talking about "The Talk"

My eight-year-old's words struck fear into my heart.

"I know how babies are made."

Oh, she did, did she?

I knew I hadn't had "The Talk" with her yet, so I asked who told her how babies were made.

"Mrs. G., my teacher. We talked about it in class one day."

Ah, that explained it.

But since I hadn't received a note about sex ed being taught in her second grade class, I wondered if Mrs. G. had given an impromptu lesson.

"So, tell me. How are babies made?"

She proceeded to tell me a garbled explanation of an egg and ... um ... an egg ... and ... it's in you, Mom ... and it goes with something ... that's inside you too ...

Either Mrs. G. wasn't that good a teacher or Christa wasn't that good a listener. I'm thinking it's the latter.

"Honey, you don't know how babies are made."

This conversation happened as we finished dinner, while her older sister, Amy, watched--a smirk on her face. How fun to watch her parents have "The Talk" with someone other than her.

"Do you want to know how babies are made?"

"Not really."

"Okay, we can talk about it later," I assured her. "But, listen. Some of your friends are going to tell you that they know how babies are made. And guess what? They don't know. So, if a friend tells you something or if you have any questions, tell me or dad, okay? We do know how babies are made."

Time to pull out my "How To Have The Talk" books and review my game plan. I've learned it's not a one-time conversation--the first conversation is the first of many. I'm thinking I'll be having that initial conversation soon with my caboose kiddo.