Anyone up for an awkward conversation...

A friend emailed me today asking for help with the big "talk." Ironically, her email came on the day of my big "talk" with Ethan.

i am not really nervous about it. honest. don't look at me that way...i really am not worried or nervous at all in the slightest.

maybe a little. but just a little.

mostly sad. i am learning that i am the mom who finds each new milestone incredibly exciting and heartbreaking all in one. motherhood is not for the weak of heart. or stomach for that matter. i went upstarts today and found a whole lot of bodily substances in the restroom. but that's a whole different post.

However, I feel like the 400+ hours( but who's counting) of sexual addiction  education and the undergrad in child development and the heavy course load of counseling classes has left me with one certain conviction. In this area - PARENTS MUST BE FEARLESS.  Seriously, if I have learned anything its that.

So I told my friend I would post the books that I think are good and helpful on my blog today. I hope this helps. I am not "In Love" with any of these books. I have read a lot of them and I think these are good. But not perfect. Maybe one day I will attempt to write the perfect one. Because I do think there is a gaping hole in the market. But for now I just pick and choose what I like from each book and use them the best I can.

1. Amazing You by Gail Saltz  - A good beginner book for kids. I started my boys with this one at around 6. 


2. Before I Was Born by Carolyn Nystrom - I really like this book. It's a Christian centered book and I do like the focus it gives on morals and values. There is a page in here that I would save for the "big talk" at 8. But overall one of my favorite books!


3. Where Did I Come From? by Peter Mayle -  This a good book for older children (8+) This is the book I am going to use with the big talk. Again, not perfect but a good clear educational book. This book is recommended in the book I will talk about next.


4. How To Talk To Your Child About Sex by Linda and Richard Eyre. I love this book - its the best I have come across. It's written by the Eyre's (the founders of joy school and parents to 9 children!) It's in my opinion the best place to start. It gives you dialogues for every age from 2 to adulthood.      


5. It's So Amazing by Robbie H Harris. I have mixed feelings on this book. I love that its comprehensive. I mean it covers EVERYTHING. It should be called "El Encylopediao De Awkward Conversation."  However I think its a good one to have to cover about everything. I don't personally agree with all the views in this one...so I filter it a bit.

Like I said, there really isn't a perfect book for this. But this is a good start. I have TONS of other books I really like and maybe I will post those soon.

what do i write? i know there is a blog post in my head - it has been rattling around in there for days.
i think it may take a few more days to make its way to coherent sentences.

in the meantime a few tidbits of my life. {because i am told by well meaning seniors in the checkout at albertson's that 'one day you will want to remember this}

tyler was tramatized today. we watched a churchish movie called "spiritual crocodiles." its been a decade (at least) since I watched this movie and i forgot that there was a scene or ten where an unsuspecting water buffalo is attacked and devoured by a crocodile. so I (andrea-i-am-trying-to-teach-my-children-morals) show them this movie and before I know it Tyler is sobbing and CANNOT stop. this boy loves swords and star wars and is CONSTANTLY reinacting battle scenes...but a baby water buffalo getting eaten killed him.
I may or may not have told him it was all pretend and they were just actors. and that no water buffalo were actually eaten. (yep...teaching morals.) he cried off and on all day. and at bed time told me that he hoped the water buffalo didn't hurt too much while being 'crunched and devoured" by the crocodile's mouth. i am gonna start putting money away this week for the future therapy he will need.

school starts soon. the boys start on wednesday. i return on the 17th. its a bitter sweet thing. i am happy for the return to routine. i have learned this summer that all of us - especially me - are happier on a routine. when and if i am ever finished with school and if there is ever a time that i am once again a stay at home mom (a girl can wish can't she??) i now know this about myself. as much as i loved relaxing with the kids and the freedom to go and do whatever we want i was restless this summer. i need a routine and schedule. its weird how i had more time than i ever did during the school year and yet I feel like i accomplished less, strange huh? but i am sad for it to end. the late night reading sessions. the baking whenever i want. the pool. the outings with the boys.
i am excited to dive back into my counseling classes. my summer classes reaffirmed to me once again how much i love this material  - and that this is exactly what i need to be doing.

gonna go enjoy one of my last evenings of freedom. i am reading such a good book!