The Truth About Boys and Girls

They grow up fast, don't they?
And these days, they grow up faster than you would ever imagine.
Especially among my family and my best friend, whom I lump in as part of my family.
During a family gathering, when no children were present, my sister-in-law shared a story about how my seven-and-a-half-year-old niece (her daughter) asked her mother "how big is my uterus?"
After I sucked my eyeballs back into my head and blotted the green tea that made its way through my nasal passages, I collected myself and asked her how she handled the inquiry.
My sister-in-law explained to her what her uterus was, where it was, and what its purpose was.  Of course, this snowballed into a blizzard of subsequent questions.
All of which were answered truthfully, notwithstanding.
However, my niece was reminded that other parents may not be ready to expose this information to their own children.  And that it was best to keep this knowledge to herself.  If someone asked her a question, it was OK to answer truthfully, but not volunteer the information.
This wasn't a problem.  My niece was so bewildered at what she just learned that it was best to keep it under wraps.  For a long time.
And that can't be a bad thing.
My best friend and his wife handled the situation with their own daughters in similar fashion.  And the reaction wasn't different that that of my niece, but definitely very quotable:
"Ewwwwwww!!!!!"
Whether your kid can "handle the truth" or not is immaterial.  Someday they will simply have to. 
Hold off on volunteering it, but don't withhold information or lie about it.
Personally, I got a book.  Which I highly recommend.
"Love and Sex in Plain Language" by Eric W. Johnson, a schoolteacher.  He wrote the book in the early 1980s and added an update on AIDS in another run of the book by the decade's end.  You can find it at Amazon.com.
It's written in an easy to read format for adolescents, without downtalk but without overly technical medical information that can leave young people confused.
So talk to your kids about the facts of life.  Not talking about it won't avoid the situation.  Even if all you can muster is the book, so be it.

NEXT WEEK:  Corporal Punishment? Sir, yes sir!