Be Careful Little Eyes What You See

I picked Christa up from spending the night at a friend's house.

"So, we watched 'Jonas Brothers Concert Experience,'" she said.

"And there was this funny scene where the guys were changing their clothes backstage," she said. "The cameraman was there and he kept filming, even when Joe took off his shirt."

I keep driving--and listening.

"And then Joe started unbuckling his belt, like he was going to take his pants off."

Now I am really listening.

"But Joe notices the camera and throws a jacket over it."

I let Christa know that I didn't think that behind-the-stage scene was all that funny. I didn't think it was appropriate at all for her to be watching older boys get undressed.

I mulled over that information for a couple of hours before picking up the conversation again with Christa again. How do you talk about suggestive movie scenes to an 8 1/2 year old girl?

I started with the basics.

I reminded Christa that we've talked about modesty and privacy--that her body is her body. That no one is allowed to look at her body or touch her body. The only exception to that would be our family doctor--and I am there with her during the exam.

I also reminded her of our recent talk--The Talk. (That's another blog post.)

I remind her how her body will be changing, making it even more important that she understand the importance of modesty and privacy--both hers and others.

During all this, I got lots of head nods and "hhm-hhms" from Christa.

Then I finished up by saying, "You are 8 years old. Some of the shows you like to watch are starting to get into boy-girl stuff. That's why I don't let you watch them anymore. You don't need to be worrying about that now."

Another head nod.

"Even when you are old enough to be interested in boys, your dad and I are going to encourage you not to park your brain on boys. And we are going to help you be careful how you act around boys and how you act with boys."

Enough said.

I've found with kids of all ages, the less said, the better.