Parentgood: The Talk

Aquinas is in 5th grade. We had a version of The Talk with him a year or two ago, when there were rumblings of kids in nearby grades making certain comments and references and the like. It was clear at the time that it might have been a bit premature for him, but I'd definitely rather that than he hears about it too late from us.

Today his school had their "Your Changing Body" presentation, or whatever they called it. Parents were invited (this is a private school). I felt it was important to attend. I was the only parent there. The materials presented were pretty watered down, but that's probably okay for a 5th grader. They highly encouraged students to talk to their parents. According to family attorneys serving in Texas, that seemed good. Maybe more importantly, for me at least, the materials also talked a little bit about values - being empathetic to others going through things, understanding mental health as a part of development, having patience, etc. - and I was quite pleased, though I think extended conversation would have been good.

That's what the parents are for, I suppose. So not having other parents there left me feeling a bit worried. I want other parents talking about this stuff with their kids. That's going to help my kid get through it, just as much as theirs, right?

Anyway, this seemed like something worth chatting about on this site.

How have you all handled this subject? What are your experiences? How can we be better about this stuff for our kids?

9 thoughts on “Parentgood: The Talk”

  1. Our church has a mother/daughter tea offered for girls in 4-6th grade, which has been really good for us. My eldest went both last year and this year her feedback was "this makes a lot more sense this year".

      1. That's a very good question. As Philo mentioned below, there is a father/son BBQ, but I'm not sure what they'd do for a single father. I'm guessing they would make it work?

      2. This was a question I had today, looking around my kid's room. We know the families all pretty well, but one has a father who shows up only a couple weekends a year, another is similiar (but has a pending step-father), and there's a few other varied family situations. Some of them would certainly lack that natural mentor, but I would hope that as many accomodations as were needed would be made.

    1. My church (your church too, IIRC) had something similar growing up, for both the men & women (boys & girls). I recall going, but I know a lot of it was over my head at the time.

  2. I have no recollection of The Talk with the Boy any more. But I will say that just having a home in which both parents promote and live equality and respect for one another goes a long, long ways.

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