Skip to main content

More about "The Talk"

Every one of my friends has a story about their parents talking, or rather not really talking, to them about sex.  One guy I knew was just handed a book by his parent and told to go read it.  Several friends were asked by their parents if they had any questions--to which they answered "no." and that was that.  In my case, I don't actually remember talking to my mom about it ever.  I learned about it during sex education in seventh grade during a special assembly that all the girls had to go to.  Then, I was given a book by our marriage counselor to read before my husband and I got married.  But, the world was different twenty and thirty years ago than it is now.  Sex is everywhere now.  The magazines at the grocery store flash words about sex across their covers every week.

My mom recently told me that I'm good at making sure I talk to my kids about everything.  She commented to me that she didn't know how to do that when I was growing up--she didn't know what to say.  I'm not always sure what to say either.  I often find myself trusting the Lord to put ideas into my head and to prompt me when I need to talk with them.  My goal is to help them understand and cope with the world they live in.

My last post was about Jonathon McKee's book aimed at helping parents talk to their kids about sex. In my review, I did say that it is not the book I'd recommend to parents looking for a resource to help them talk to their kids about sex, but I didn't mention the books I would recommend.  A while back, I also reviewed a book by Elyse Fitzpatrick about "Answering Your Kids Toughest Questions".  I wasn't keen on that book either.

The book series I prefer to both of these is published by Concordia Press, Learning About Sex for the Christian Family.  There is a book for each age group.  I've read the first three with my children as they've grown.  The first book is for children 4-6 yo, the second for 7-9 yo, the third for 10-12 yo, and the last for 13-15.  The last is the only one I haven't read yet with my oldest.  There is a separate book titled How to Talk Confidently With Your Child About Sex.  This book is much more general than Johnathan McKee's book.  It will give you many ideas about how to approach different topics and questions.  You may find some that will work for you and others that won't.  Any talk about sex is personal and individual.  Every parent fits it their personality and that of their child(ren).

For girls, there is also the American Girl book, The Care and Keeping of You.  For middle school girls, I really love So Long Insecurity for Teens by Beth Moore.  This book covers how girls dress and how to relate to boys in a way that I really loved.   I wish there was a great Christian book like this one for boys.  So, if you ever find one, please comment on this post and let me know!





 
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Grieved

Why is it that my generation (I belong to Gen X) and generations after us always seem to think that they know more than the generations that have come before us? Why is there such a lack of respect in our generation for our elders? Why do we think that the liturgy of the church and hymns are irrelevant? It is ironic to me that the emergent movement is saying that the seeker sensitive movement is irrelevant. It seems as if it was only a few years ago when it was the seeker sensitive movement that said to the traditional church that it (the traditional church) was irrelevant. I'm reading a book with all of these big words and I want to be honest--I didn't understand a lot of it. I'm not dumb. I understood most of it, but the author was assuming a lot of background knowledge on the part of the reader. Most of the time I learn deep theological concepts and then I have to store them in my "attic" (as Autumn would say) because there isn't enough room in the ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Missing Pieces

The other day I was discussing a book with my mom and explaining to her my concern about how "blame" is cast upon the child in the story.  My mom commented about how deeply I read and consider what is written. Sometimes I wonder if I go overboard.  Am I questioning too much?  Am I overreacting? Why am I reacting this way? I come back to knowing that God wired me this way.  But, I also reflect on how God has guided my path through the maze of books I've read over the past few years and what I've learned from the books themselves and from reading them.   Recently, I read a book that troubled me.  The book I finished reading was  Guiltless Living  by Ginger Hubbard.  When I began reading it, I found myself puzzled and then disconcerted. And in the end, I cried. But, I cried for a different reason than one might suspect. I'd like to explain. I did not read Ms. Hubbard's previous book “ Don't Make Me Count to Three ”, but I knew from f...
Post a Comment
Read more

ESV, NIV, or NASB and then there's the ICB, ESV or NIrV...which should we read?

I am so thankful for my friend's question about the ESV vs. NASB and NIV. I couldn't remember the difference so I went to look it up. I knew that John Piper and Tim Keller, both pastors and authors that I deeply respect have switched over to the ESV. All of the churches that we have attended over the past few years PCA or Reformed Baptist have also switched to the ESV. I did find a blog that explained the differences and that helped me ( http://thefoolishgalatian.wordpress.com/2007/10/22/niv-vs-esv-and-why-piper-switched/ ) I knew why I didn't like the KJV--it was written in the days when writers were paid by a patron and that often slanted the translation. The NKJV, from what I understand, is a revision of the KJV that uses more modern language. Most churches I have attended used the NIV until the ESV came out. The blog I found explained that the ESV is a more literal translation---like the NASB. The NASB is a very literal translation. The ESV has come to be consid...
Post a Comment
Read more