Comments on: What the Hell do I say to that? http://midlifemanifesto.com/2008/10/what-the-hell-do-i-say-to-that/ the personal blog of Alex Hill, another opinionated knucklehead Tue, 13 Jul 2010 18:52:27 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 By: LPT http://midlifemanifesto.com/2008/10/what-the-hell-do-i-say-to-that/comment-page-1/#comment-8 LPT Thu, 16 Oct 2008 14:37:19 +0000 http://midlifemanifesto.com/?p=61#comment-8 Since my girl pretty much hears everything yours hears, Alex, I was grateful to get the heads-up on this one and decided to be proactive bringing up the topic. Well, evidently they had not talked about it yet as this was all news to her. First thought was "crap. should have kept my mouth shut and avoided what I've now got to talk about." But, I fumbled on into uncharted territory. Not wanting to later try to explain why we had photos from our trip to Italy with statues of naked people and that was ok, but this was not, yet still wanting to make sure she knew if anyone should ask her to pose that way it would be wrong, I took the tact of relating it to age and art. May have been a bit over her head, though, so we also talked about how neither of us would really want anyone outside of our immediate family to see us naked. ;-) Then, I quickly transitioned to reading her bedtime story about cute little pigs. LOL This will all hopefully buy me some time and yet still lay a foundation for her response should the topic come up at school one day. Since my girl pretty much hears everything yours hears, Alex, I was grateful to get the heads-up on this one and decided to be proactive bringing up the topic.

Well, evidently they had not talked about it yet as this was all news to her. First thought was “crap. should have kept my mouth shut and avoided what I’ve now got to talk about.” But, I fumbled on into uncharted territory.

Not wanting to later try to explain why we had photos from our trip to Italy with statues of naked people and that was ok, but this was not, yet still wanting to make sure she knew if anyone should ask her to pose that way it would be wrong, I took the tact of relating it to age and art. May have been a bit over her head, though, so we also talked about how neither of us would really want anyone outside of our immediate family to see us naked. ;-)

Then, I quickly transitioned to reading her bedtime story about cute little pigs. LOL

This will all hopefully buy me some time and yet still lay a foundation for her response should the topic come up at school one day.

]]> By: alex http://midlifemanifesto.com/2008/10/what-the-hell-do-i-say-to-that/comment-page-1/#comment-7 alex Thu, 16 Oct 2008 09:43:42 +0000 http://midlifemanifesto.com/?p=61#comment-7 Thanks for the kind words Jack. We work to engage both kids everyday, to ask about their day, what they did, who they played with, what they learned, what they liked and didn't like. It's scary that sexuality is entering our conversations this early, but not necessarily surprising. I wonder if we should probe further into what she thinks about it, or just let it drop for now since she hasn't brought it up. My wife and I were discussing it last night, I'm of the "let it drop for now" opinion. Thanks for the kind words Jack. We work to engage both kids everyday, to ask about their day, what they did, who they played with, what they learned, what they liked and didn’t like.

It’s scary that sexuality is entering our conversations this early, but not necessarily surprising. I wonder if we should probe further into what she thinks about it, or just let it drop for now since she hasn’t brought it up. My wife and I were discussing it last night, I’m of the “let it drop for now” opinion.

]]> By: Jack Leblond http://midlifemanifesto.com/2008/10/what-the-hell-do-i-say-to-that/comment-page-1/#comment-6 Jack Leblond Wed, 15 Oct 2008 14:02:46 +0000 http://midlifemanifesto.com/?p=61#comment-6 I'm not sure how I would have handled this - I'm sure no better than you. However, the fact that she opened up and shared this (and thought about her younger sibling) speaks volumes about your and your wife's parenting. It seems that more and more we hear about the degradation of American families, how they never talk or develop trusting relationships. Clearly this is not the case in your home. Well done! I’m not sure how I would have handled this – I’m sure no better than you. However, the fact that she opened up and shared this (and thought about her younger sibling) speaks volumes about your and your wife’s parenting. It seems that more and more we hear about the degradation of American families, how they never talk or develop trusting relationships. Clearly this is not the case in your home. Well done!

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