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Kid and Caboodle: Musings of a "Split-Shift" Mom  As warmer weather comes to the northern hemisphere and birds, rabbits, and other animals start having babies, I am faced with an unexpected problem: my 4-year-old son has begun to ask me questions about human reproduction. He began a few weeks ago with the simple question, "Mommy, where did I come from?" Rather than telling him some story about a cabbage patch or a stork, I decided to be as honest as I could and said, "You came from a little bit of Daddy, and a little bit of Mommy that we mixed together." That seemed to satisfy him for a while, but then one day he saw a pregnant woman and asked me why she had such a big belly. I explained that the woman had a baby growing inside of her, just like he had grown inside of me until he was big enough to come out. Then he asked how he had gotten out ... and how he had gotten in. I was not planning to answer such questions until my son was much older. I am quite startled and somewhat dismayed that he is asking questions about human reproduction at such a young age, and I am not sure how to answer them. When my son asked how he had gotten out of my belly, I told him that a doctor had helped me, but then he asked for specifics: how did the doctor get him out, and where did he come out? I am really at a loss as to what to say. I want to be as honest as I can in my answers, but I don't want to confuse or frighten him with information he doesn't understand. But every answer I give him seems to lead to another question! What do you tell you kids about human reproduction, and when? How do you vary your answers depending on the age of your child? Do you explain things yourself, hand your child a book or video, or let someone else teach your kids? If you explain things yourself, how do you stop a conversation when it becomes too uncomfortable? |
