Blushing, cringing, palm sweating conversations are usually avoided within families. They are the sort of conversations that purposefully get pushed down to the bottom of the list of priorities. So we are here to help you sift through the ones that you can leave there, at the bottom of that list, and the ones that unfortunately you are going to have to sweat and squirm through. These are our list of top 3 conversations you absolutely have to have.
Puberty
If you have kids that are heading into adolescence the conversation about puberty is certainly a pressing one. Bringing up the subject of puberty is not an easy one due to the age of the child. They most certainly will not want to be having the conversation with you, so try to approach it in a need-to-know basis and don’t just hurl a book’s worth of information at them for them to digest all at once.
Sex
Well, surely this has to be the most uncomfortable of all. Let’s be honest, neither party wants to be involved and you all want it to be over as soon as possible. But it’s a crucial one nonetheless to make sure you are reaching out to your kids to let them know that you are there if they ever want to talk to you about anything related to sex.
This is conversation that should be saved just for the teenagers as it’s the age when they’ll be on the brink of having sexual partners and you may even discover they have already begun to be sexually active. Therefore this conversation is just as important to you, as a parent, as it is for the education of your kids.
It is easy to forget the terrible advice and myths that surrounded sex when we were growing up, so you may even discover that one of your children has had sex and didn’t use protection, in which case you will need to take action. Discovering that any of your children have had unprotected sex means that you are going to have to take a trip down to the doctor. Look for a doctor that specialises in STD tests and one that you can get an appointment with as soon as possible, like samedaydoctor.org.
Death
Talking about death is a really tricky one to have with your kids as it’s a subject we tend to want to protect them from. We coat the subject of death up in euphemisms to try and lessen the blow of grief for them, and of course that is completely natural. However, there comes a time when we need to tackle the conversation head on, and go a little easier on the euphemisms.
Using a pet is always a good way to teach them about life cycles. A small pet such as a hamster, is a good way to explain the cycle of life to them in a way that they will understand. Then you can work through their grief with them as that understanding sets in. It is hard being honest with our kids about the painful stuff, but it’s something that we all need to do in order to make sure they understand important parts of growing up and so that they feel that we are parents that they can open up to and have adult, open conversations with.
3 Comments
John Adams
May 25, 2017 at 11:49 am
Death must be hard. not really had to tackle that one yet. Puberty, yup started having those conversations.
Holding off about discussing sex until the teenage years? Personally, I’ve had to tell both kids about how babies are made and we’ll talk about it throughout the school years on and off. It’s hard not to, they get sex ed at school from year 1 (or was it reception class? i can’t remember!).
Karen, the next best thing to mummy
May 25, 2017 at 6:21 pm
Talking about death with children can be a difficult subject I have written a little on this in my blog post titled absent parents
Charlie Alf
June 1, 2017 at 6:11 am
I agree! These are probably the hardest, yet most important discussions to have with kids. I think with all three there isn’t really a certain “age” that you would have these talks, rather its more situational. You’d obviously talk to them about puberty close to the time they would be going through it. But with sex, and possibly puberty, I feel like if they’re asking questions, they’re probably ready to talk about it. But that’s up to the parent. You know if your child is ready or if that’s a conversation that needs to be discussed further down the road.