‘Then the stork comes and it stings your stomach’
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The stork pricks women with its beak and that’s how you get babies: isn’t it about time for sex education?
Marieke (36), mother of Jens (6) and Cato (4):
“At the end of her very first day with us, I asked our new nanny how she had experienced it with the children. Well, everything had gone well, dear sweet children. Just one thing: Jens had asked her where babies came from.
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Good sex education
I was amazed, he had never even asked me this. But the babysitter didn’t mind at all, in fact she had explained it to him. I was really speechless when she said that. And I actually thought it was quite special. Normally you say to a child: just ask mom or dad? Well, it had already happened.
“Oh just, then the stork will come.”
After the babysitter left, I checked with Jens exactly what she had told him. Then he said casually: ‘Oh, just then the stork comes and it does like this – prick – in your stomach and then you have a baby.’ I decided to explain in broad terms how it really works, but Jens could not be overly fascinated by that.”
Okay it wasn’t the stork
Many parents seem to find it quite a complicated subject, that sex education. When do you start? How do you tell? Maybe you already have a whole powerpoint of information ready or you just get chills at the words sex education: a few extra tips never hurt.
Sex education usually goes in steps and repetitions. Most children only ask for answers where they are ready. So if your sister gives birth, and your child asks if his aunt and uncle had sex, you can simply say yes. If he wants to know more, he will ask. If not, this was apparently enough information. The follow-up question will come in a while. The younger your child is when you talk about sex, the smaller the taboo.
You can find more tips for giving your child sex education here.
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