avatar by on July 11, 2012   •   118 Comments Kids: Developing Character Your Family

How to talk to your children about sex

This post from contributor Corey Allan of Simple Marriage continues to be a favorite around here, so I thought it’s time to republish it. Hope you find it helpful like I have!

“Dadda, your penis is bigger than mine. ”

“Mommy, mommy, I have a vagina!” Stated as my daughter entered our bedroom while pulling down her panties to prove her statement.

“Why do you and mommy go on dates?”

These are all questions or statements I’ve heard from my three-year-old son and five-year-old daughter. They are also great opportunities to talk about sex, sexuality, love, and life.

For many parents, when the subject of “the talk” comes up, there is an immediate sense of dread, fear, and anxiety.

The lack of information about sex most children today are armed with stems from the anxiety surrounding the idea of teaching your children about it.  Many parents believe, as perhaps you do as well, that the sex talk is something you have with your child when they’re teenagers. If this is you — um, how can I put this gently? …You’re wrong.

Teaching your children about sex and their sexuality begins at birth. And it begins with the simple labeling of their anatomy. For the record, boys have a penis and girls have a vagina (and actually the vagina is only part of the female genitalia; it actually is called the vulva).  Proper labeling of things will lay the foundation for future discussions.

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avatar by on July 7, 2012   •   Kids: Developing Character Your Family

What two wild-haired princesses taught me about parenting

A few days ago on The Dsh With Tsh, I shared a few insights from a recent mother-daughter date when Tate and I saw the movie Brave. From the post:

“It’s silly, I know. The girl prefers giant t-shirts and hole-y jeans over quirky skirts and matching headbands. She has to be reminded constantly to brush her hair (which she’s adamant about keeping long, funnily enough), and her nightly summer bedtime ritual involves scrubbing her blackened feet in the bathtub. She’d spend her afternoons up in a tree over playing with makeup any day.

I’ve got a tomboy.

…I felt my cheeks grow hot in that cooled, darkened theater. That crazy-curly mass of red hair on Merida could have easily been Tate’s blonde mane of tangles. The princesses’ prized bow and arrows are Tate’s chalk drawings all over the sidewalk and the forts built in the living room. And while I watch the movie unfold and feel Tate’s hand squeeze mine during the scary parts, I look over at her with wet eyes. This is my girl. My precious girl, who delights in being herself and no one else.“

Head here to read the entire post and to share your comments. Do you have a tomboy, too?

avatar by on May 9, 2012   •   111 Comments Kids: Developing Character Your Family

Six things adoption has taught me

Written by fatherhood contributor Shaun Groves.

Just six of the zillion things adoption has taught me:

1. Generosity is simple.

In 2007, I visited an Ethiopian orphanage, trying not to make eye contact with any of the little ones around me in need of a father. I’ve always found avoidance to be the surest way to never feel bad about saying “no.” My brother-in-law, who was adopting from Ethiopia, was there with me. “Maybe we’ve made it too complicated,” he said. (I knew by “we” he meant “me.”) “What if God’s will for our life is found wherever someone’s need and our ability intersect?”

Today, if I don’t look away, I’m bound to see someone with a need that matches my ability.
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avatar by on April 25, 2012   •   38 Comments Kids: Developing Character Your Family

Room to build

Written by contributor Robin Dance of Pensieve.

Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day;
teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.
~ Unattributed Chinese proverb

As is often the case, one of the best things a parent can give their teenager is hardly a thing at all: it’s room.

Room…

  • to make their own decisions and to enjoy the sense of accomplishment associated with wise choices—or—to endure the consequences or poor choices;
  • to learn life lessons never taught in a class or between pages in a book; and
  • to grow.

Parenting is tricky; time doesn’t play fair.

Days are long, years are short—before we know it, our pre-pubescent grade-schooler is learning to drive! There are no defining lines to mark seasons in development; they rarely occur overnight. Sometimes shift is so subtle you don’t even realize it when you’ve left one stage and entered the next.

My point?

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avatar by on March 14, 2012   •   53 Comments Kids: Developing Character Your Family

Honoring the spirit of generosity in our children

Written by contributor Megan Tietz of SortaCrunchy.

Last month, I went to Nashville for the BlissDom blogging conference. I wanted to bring home something for each of my girls, a little treat from my trip.

The first day of the conference offered me the chance to shop the delightful wares at the Handmade Marketplace. I realized as I browsed the booths that I wanted to get my daughters something handmade, something that would hopefully hold more meaning than a tacky t-shirt.

I walked up and down the aisles, sighing more than once over the precious collections for little ones. Though of course I realize that my children are growing up, it definitely drove the point home when I realized that they were too big even for the sweet little handmade skirts I found at one booth.

Both of my daughters have been very into girly, feminine accessories lately, and when I spied the lacy fluffs at the Allora Handmade booth, I knew I had found the perfect treat for each of them. I picked light pink for my older daughter and the darker pink for the  younger one, bearing in mind that her favorite color is very specifically dark pink.

After my return, my girls had fun digging through all of the treasures I brought home with me. Predictably, they were slightly more interested in the free stuff from my swag bag (squeezable applesauce and a bag of chocolate mini eggs!) than they were in the gifts I had purchased just for them, but still they happily tucked their pretty new lacy fluffs into the bucket of accessories that sits on their dresser.

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