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Too Young to Talk About Sex?
Think Again! By Shel Franco
Cagle-Becker's daughter was satisfied with this simple answer. She never asked for specifics and that's fine with Cagle-Becker, who follows her daughter's lead in such matters. "When she is old enough to ask [for specifics], she will be old enough to hear the answers," says Cagle-Becker.
When answering the question "What is sex?" Wolf sticks to the simple yet honest approach. He suggests that your answer goes like this: "Sex is something that adults do. It's a way of making babies, and it's something that they enjoy doing."
As if that's not enough to swallow, Wolf concedes that you might want to go so far as to mention the penis entering the vagina. His only steadfast rule is to use the proper names for the parts of the body.
Will you be mortified at this conversation? Perhaps. But Wolf assures you that your child won't be mortified. "The kids might find it initially very weird. Then it becomes just a matter of fact," he says.
Trina Lambert of Englewood, Colo. couldn't avoid telling the whole truth to her 4-year-old twins. Their reaction was just as Wolf said it would be. "My daughter wrinkled her nose and said, 'That's gross!' My son agreed with her, and they went back to their snack," Lambert says.