My four-year-old son is having an existential moment. Suddenly, he’s crazy curious about how he and his younger sister arrived into our family.
I am personally of the belief that I will talk to our kids candidly as they grow up about reproduction and how their own bodies work, so long as it remains fairly age-appropriate and most importantly, non-scary on any level.
For the moment, I’m sort of encouraging his imagination on the topic because A) he’s not WAY off the mark and B) he is so frickin adorable with all he’s coming out with!
The general gist of Jacob’s understanding of how he and Eva came into the world is this:
“‘Eva and I were seeds in your tummy and we had a sleepover. Could you hear us snoring? Then I burst out of my seed first before Eva and it was so dark I thought I was in a monster’s cave. We were playing and laughing together in there”
Too. Cute.
We asked our readers what their kids believe about ‘the birds and the bees’ and here’s what you told us:
“Ed knows he grew in my belly (which is why I have a jelly belly now) then the doctor helped him out. Sometimes he think Sadie was there with him. I don’t think he realises I would have exploded with two babies his size in there!” – Emma, Wexford
“I told my son when he was about six years old that it takes a mammy and a daddy egg to make a whole baby egg and it takes a special kind of kiss for it to happen… fast forward to last summer when I was pregnant with Number Three, I told him the truth; what willies and lady bits are for. Surprisingly he took it ok with a bit of an eeeewww but all good” – Karen, Kildare
“Oh jesus my three-and-a-half year old is obsessed with babies and asked me this morning how babies get into my belly. I told I’d tell her when she was ten!” – Eimear, Cork
“Mine say ‘holy God put me in your belly’. The ‘how did I come out’ part is is a bit awkward. I usually just say ‘a special baby doctor took you out when you were ready’. Then when they said ‘but how!?’ I just distract the crap out of them” – Laura, Dublin
“We have too many animals around for our kids to not know. They don’t know the ‘what goes in bit’ other than that it involves piggy backs and she got farted out. She believed she came out of my belly button for awhile too” – Caroline, Limerick
“Mine are all au fait with seeds/sperm, eggs and where babies grow and come out. We’ve not dealt with how the seed gets to the egg yet but when it’s asked I’ll be pretty matter of fact. I think it’s the easiest way” – Helen, Dublin
What do your kids tell you what they think about the birds and the bees? Join the conversation on Twitter @HerFamilyDotie
