My son’s birthday was yesterday and now, he is all of 16 — months, that is. Yay! Still can’t believe it.
And that in about 8 months, also, makes him eligible to start reading the new book Where Did I Really Come From by Narelle Wickham just rereleased in Australia. First penned in the 1990′s, it has received a new millennium face lift and is now really pushing the envelope on sex ed. For two-year old toddlers.
The Age of Enlightenment
Apparently, they have a right to have that existential question answered, too, in nice painstaking detail.
There are drawings, detailed descriptions — and a gay angle that is having people up in arms rather than the contents of the book themselves.
To me, the gay angle — including a picture of two gay men holding an infant in the chapter devoted to surrogacy and a description of how two moms may want to forgo intercourse with a man and instead opt out for assisted insemination — is a lot less offensive that the very fact that the sexual intercourse itself is being referenced BEFORE it ever reaches the assisted conception chapter.
Added to the fact that the book in its inside cover claims it has been drafted for use by the New South Wales Attorney General’s office in its Learn to Include program, while the NSW AG, John Hatzistergos, denies having anything whatsoever to do with the publication, and the book seems to me a desperate and tasteless bid for attention.
Obviously, everyone has a right to have their natural curiosity satisfied, and the pat “stork brought you to us” answer wouldn’t…erm, fly, not for any length of time in our enlightened culture. And really, I would be the last person who would want my son wallowing in ignorance or being one of those kids in the old joke, where a 13 year old boy tells his girlfriend upon not being permitted to the showing of an R-rated movie, that since they are not allowed to watch that, they should just go and while away the afternoon having sex.
Current school of thought suggests an age between 3 and 4 as a good time for a child to develop curiosity about sex. That is usually when kids need to memorize the names for all the body parts and start thinking about procreation — but in the way that is appropriate for the age, with answers slowly graduating from simple to somewhat more involved to altogether frank once they are of school age and better able to grasp the dynamics.
There are many versions of the early sex ed books, but one of those most widely recommended by experts is Where Did I Come From? by Peter Mayle, a squirmingly honest yet naive look at everything from orgasm to fetal development. And the pudgy nudes featured in illustrations are supposedly the furthest thing from erotic. I can’t say whether that is the case, I am yet to read it myself, but, at least, it is being geared to kids 4 to 8.
I don’t think I am a prude. I want my son to know about evolution, and the particulars of intercourse between two consenting adults, and the choices gays of either gender have to make to achieve that age-old drive for parenthood. And by the time junior or high school rolls up, the furthest thing I want is for him to start being ashamed of his sexuality. I am with President Obama on that, who, still as Illinois Senator gave speech at a Planned Parenthood event in which he emphasized the importance of sex education for children. As he said, “It’s the right thing to do…to provide age-appropriate, science-based sex education in schools.”
But at 2 years old…no, thanks. I would rather my son still believed that when people (of whatever sexual orientation) want someone as wonderful as he is, they find a vaguely organic / vaguely spiritual way to get their heart’s desire. That — and in Santa.
He will be disabused of the quaint notions of childhood soon enough. For now, though, well, I want him to stay a CHILD.
Related Posts -
The Pit Ball Goes to the Dogs as Vicktory Emerges Victorious [/caption] I wrote about The Great Pit Ball before -- when it was just a glimmer in its host's eye. A very defined kind of glimmer, true, but when we talked, everything for the grand event was only just coming together. Today, I spoke to Mr. Bond again, with The...... -
Affirmative Inaction (or, Sudden Onset of Foot-in-Mouth Disease) Soapbox! Loudspeaker, stat! Full glass of raw eggs (supposedly does marvels for the vocal cords)! All right, we’re set. In November, the student association in Ottawa, Ontario, voted to eliminate a Cystic Fibrosis organization from the list of the charities it supports, explaining that since the condition almost exclusively...... -
Please, NO get out jail free card! What exactly makes a "mother"? It this someone who ovulates? Gives birth? Trails an "it's a boy" balloon while wheeled out onto the hospital loading dock with her bundle of joy across her knees? [/caption] Or is it someone who doesn't let her baby scald himself in the middle of...... -
Pigging Out! When it oinks like a pig, looks like a pig, wields a gun like a pig, is it a pig? PC John Ablett seems to think so. Though a fan of self-criticism, I do think asking fellow policemen to arrest a neighbor in a nighttime raid for -- ready for...... -
Modesty Is The Sister of Talent So, should I be? Humble, that is. Nope, not at all means I have achieved so much, I am forever tempted to hide my shining greatness behind a screen name and a pair of reflective sunglasses. The question is, do I just post -- or do I start explaining what......
Related Websites -
Reader Highlight with Kati of Katidom Keira: You pick up the phone and on the other end is your all time favorite romance author offering to write you a story just the way you want it – setting, names, character types, time period, genre, etc. Which author is it and what are you going to have...... -
Review: Gregor and the Marks of Secret by Suzanne Collins by Second Mate Embry, guest reviewer Title: Gregor and the Marks of Secret Author Suzanne Collins Page Count: 343 Format: Hardcover Grade Reading Level: Ages 9-12 Summary: Gregor and Boots frequently go to the Underland to visit their mother, who was a victim of the plague. When they returned...... -
Apple's iPad Review: What you need to know [/caption] Apple on Wednesday finally unveiled its tablet computer, called the iPad, at an invite-only event at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in downtown San Francisco. The device, which looks like a larger version of Apple's iPod Touch will be available in two to three months, and starts...... -
Personal Finance Advice For Your 30's. picture by PerfesserThis post was written as part of the M-Network's Money Matters for All Ages project. You can see the rest of the articles at the bottom of this post. Your 30's - the first time you start feeling mortal and like a grown-up at the same time...at least...... - More good news I was so happy to see the father and his children saved, after being lost in the snow. On another front: a friend's husband is getter better by the day after not being able to work for several weeks. Doctors had not been able to help him. This turn around......
