Talking Birds & Bees

We have two sons. This makes me outnumbered. Even counting the cat, a very pretty calico named Marnie, I'm outnumbered. So when I'm met with the question, "Mom, if you don't have a penis, what do you have?" (we encourage our boys to use the proper names for ALL parts of their anatomy), I'm kind of at a loss. I mean, my descriptive powers only go so far. I'm not good at drawing pictures, and show & tell is, obviously, out of the question.

So, I went to a friend who is both a fantastic nurse and the mother of a 15-year-old boy to ask her for -- what else? -- book recommendations, and she recommended two fantastic books. The first, geared toward ages 7 and up, is called It's So Amazing!: A Book About Eggs, Sperm, Birth, Babies, and Families. The other, for ages 10 and up, is called It's Perfectly Normal: Changing Bodies, Growing Up, Sex, and Sexual Health. 

Both books use very clear, straightforward artwork to convey meaning, with the "younger" book using more of the artwork and cartoon-like panels to give the information. There is no mincing of words, no beating around the bush, and nothing said to make anything seem like it's taboo or titillating or shameful.

Now, instead of trying to explain what Mom has instead of a penis, I can open up It's So Amazing! and show them what Mom, and every other "girl" in the world, has. I've recommended these books so many times to other parents at baseball and soccer games that I figured I would just write a blog post about them and just direct people here from now on. Good luck to everyone raising kids with answering the tough questions!