Talking About Sex with Your Kids #MoreInfoLessWeird

Did you ever wish that you could keep your kids under the age of 8 for like, EVER, just so you could avoid having “the talk” with them? It wasn’t so bad with my daughter, I just told her the same thing that my mother told me and what I had learned from my own personal experiences.

Talking about sex with my two sons though? Completely out of my element. I knew absolutely nothing about what it was like for boys to go through puberty. I have a brother that I grew up with, but seriously knew nothing about what boys dealt with. Oh sure, I knew the basics but that. was. it.

the-most-important-thing-kids-need-is-the-conversation-itself

“Let their dad talk to them about sex.”

That was my first thought. Then I started thinking about how their dad talks to them (he goes on and on and on for HOURS about whatever the topic at hand is) and I knew that they would tune out after the first five minutes.

“Let them learn about sex in school.”

Then I started to think about the sex education classes that I had in middle and high school. I took a look at some of the information that they were teaching my boys at school. Um, yeah, no. That’s not the answer either. While they might cover the basics, they weren’t teaching my boys what I felt that they should know about relationships, how to tell if you were ready for a sexual relationship, etc.

You have to suck it up and talk to them about sex.

Sigh. Fine. Where do I begin?

I hit the library. Some of the stuff that I found there was more archaic than the information my husband was spouting at the kids. I couldn’t trust the internet … have you Googled “sex” lately? Not to mention all those horrible pornographic sites that are on the internet. They definitely are not showing my boys what a healthy sexual relationship is like.Amaze.org

AMAZE – an Online Sexual Education Resource

If you’ve ever had one of those angel-choir-singing-moments where everything in the world just seems to come together and become completely perfect – then finding the AMAZE website and videos from the sex education experts, Advocates for Youth, Answer and Youth Tech Health (YTH), is just that moment.

The online resource website and YouTube videos are aimed specifically at 10-14 year olds and embodies the #MoreInfoLessWeird hashtag from front to back and inside out.

The videos are not just informative, their catchy too! The animated videos remind me of the “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” movies, movies that my boys both love to watch because of the animations (and they’ve both read the books too). Score! Think a topic isn’t covered? Think again! These animated videos cover all types of questions about puberty, sex, relationships, body changes, sexual orientation – they’ve got it ALL.

I’ve got to share some of the videos with you – they are just too cool. I think these are my favorites. Did you know that teenage boys can have up to five erections A NIGHT? I sure didn’t! How the Boner Grows is a giant size (pun intended) informative video your boys will get a giggle, and learn, from!

As a parent, I’ve always wondered just how I would approach the subject of sexual orientation with my kids if the topic ever arose. I’ve always told all three of them that it didn’t matter to me one way or the other if they were gay, straight, lesbian, bi-sexual, transgender – whatever label you want to put on it – and that’s exactly how I feel. I love them no matter what, and I wanted them to understand that. Explaining it; however, was a totally different subject.

Parents everywhere can breathe a sigh of relief now that Amaze.org is on the scene! More topics, more videos, are coming in the weeks ahead, so stay tuned for those.

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So if you have a son or daughter between the ages of 10-14 years old that you need to talk about sex with, make the situation a little less awkward. Parents can check out the AMAZE Parents Facebook page and website.

My kids prefer communicating about sensitive topics via text message with me, so I sent them the link to the YouTube videos, Snapchat, and Instagram. I know that they’ve both checked them out, and I know that they have these links to refer back to when a question or concern arises.  They can check out the information on their own and then, if they still have questions or concerns, I know that they will come to me with them.

Share your personal experience about sex ed with your kids on Twitter and Facebook using #MoreInfoLessWeird.

This post is made possible by support from AMAZE. All opinions are my own.

2020 Kimberly Signature

 

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