Virginia is for Lovers

When I was pregnant with Toddler Child, Oldest Boy and Middle Boy were 7 and 5 years old.  They'd never really asked too many questions about the difference between boys and girls - they simply had friends.  As the baby was developing and my stomach was growing, questions began.  They were easy questions and didn't require much detail.  Chris and I purchased an age appropriate book that had illustrations of boys and girls, men and women, and only went so far as to explain that when a Mom and Dad love each other, sometimes they get a baby!  All of the drawings looked like Cabbage Patch Kids - even the adults.  This was a VERY macro level book, clearly with an old fashioned, conventional bent.  But it satisfied both boys.  It used all the proper words for anatomy and answered the question "How does the baby get out?" with "Through the birth canal."  Like that's crystal clear.  But it worked.  Chris and I were relieved.

I've talked with so many friends, a few doctors and a couple psychologists about when and how to educate kids on "the birds and the bees".  Seems to me, eventually everyone figures it out one way or the other.

It was a couple weeks from the baby's due date, Oldest Boy and Middle Boy were eating lunch at the kitchen table, I was standing a few feet away washing dishes in the sink.  Oldest Boy says nonchalantly, "Mama.  I know why you don't have a penis." 

"Why?" I said.

"So when that baby comes out, he can come right out your VIRGINIA."