Talking about sex, reproduction with a parrot.......

[babygrant]

My kids have started asking how babies get into the mommy's tummy. I told them I'd get a book so we could look at pictures to better explain it. Thing is, I'm worried about telling my youngest (almost 4 years old). He is a parrot. He doesn't care where he is, who he's with, when it is, he will talk about anything. Ex. We are in the grocery store and he says in a loud voice "Mom, so if that is a man, he must have a penis!". Will be sitting in a restaunt and says "Mom, aren't you glad that I don't need a supposatory to go poop anymore!". He just doesn't care where he is. I could totally see him, in the middle of the grocery store say "So dad put his penis in your vagina??" or something to the extent. I've tried explaining to him what is appropriate to talk about in public places....but he just doesn't get it. Any ideas?

[BellinghamCrunchie]

I have the same problem with my 4 year old. She will ask occasionally, but quickly loses interest in the answer, so I haven't provided any more information than "Papa puts a seed in mama's tummy, and the baby grows in there until she's ready to come out."

I'm actually less concerned with what she will say to perfect strangers and more concerned with her acting out the information if its too explicit... she loves pretend play, and telling her that kind of pretend play can make people upset will just make it all the more enticing for her. I can just hear her saying, "let's pretend I'm the papa and you're the mama and let's make a baby!" and then attempting to do just that. Kind of problematic for playdates.

Its not that I don't want her to have the information. Its more that I'm concerned with how she'll act on that information, not having much by the way of discrimination at her young age.

[musikat]

I don't have a recommendation about the "parrot" part per se, but I do have a book to suggest. My 7 1/2 year old son started asking those same questions a month ago and I looked for books then. Many of them are aimed at older (pre-teen) kids and way too detailed. The one I ended up with is called "What's the Big Secret" and it talks about differences between girls and boys, shows inside reproduction stuff, but not too explicit. There is literally one line about the "act" and it just said it feels nice to be close that way. End of story. He read it, we talked for about 5 minutes and he hasn't mentioned it since.

Good luck!

[eepster]

Keep the answers brief, simple and accurate, but not graphic.

Q: How does a baby get inside a mom's belly?
A: It grows from a fertilized egg.

They are much more likely to want details about how human eggs differ from chicken eggs than want to know how the egg got fertilized.

[LynnS6]

I'd work on 'private' information vs. things that are OK to shout out. It sounds like this is going to take a lot of work.

"Mom, aren't you glad I don't need a suppository..." "I am glad hon, but it's not polite to talk about poop here. People don't like to think about poop when they're eating. That's something better talked about at home."

"Yes, hon, men have penises. Do you remember that penises are a private part of our body? Well, talking about penises is also a private thing. It's better to do that at home where we have some privacy."

The next time around: then you can start with "are you talking about a private part of your body? Is it polite to talk about that in public?" Repeat as necessary. So, if indeed he does explain to the whole grocery store, you can use that phrase, people will know you're working on it, you can blush madly and pretend like you didn't notice. Really the worst that can happen is that you'll be embarrassed.

[Dukey25]

My DD is like this, she likes to announce in the womens washroom that she is allowed in here because she has a vulva. I am mortified but well its true so I just say yes that is right. I figure until they get socially inappropriate talk as long as no ones feelings are getting hurt I will just live with the embarrassment
She drew a bday card for gma yesterday and she made sure it included a vulva. poor grandma.

[babygrant]

Originally Posted by Dukey25

My DD is like this, she likes to announce in the womens washroom that she is allowed in here because she has a vulva. I am mortified but well its true so I just say yes that is right. I figure until they get socially inappropriate talk as long as no ones feelings are getting hurt I will just live with the embarrassment
She drew a bday card for gma yesterday and she made sure it included a vulva. poor grandma.

Oh you must scan it or take a picture of it and post it on here!!!! lol. Too funny!

[Amandamanda]

Originally Posted by Dukey25

My DD is like this, she likes to announce in the womens washroom that she is allowed in here because she has a vulva. I am mortified but well its true so I just say yes that is right. I figure until they get socially inappropriate talk as long as no ones feelings are getting hurt I will just live with the embarrassment
She drew a bday card for gma yesterday and she made sure it included a vulva. poor grandma.

picture please haha.

[sunnysandiegan]

First of all, OP, I totally misread the title of your thread and thought you were talking about parrot reproduction as perhaps some kind of homeschooling thing or a science class topic or who knows what.....

Second, Lynn, I was laughing out loud over your imaginary conversations! I have a vivid imagination and could really "see" myself having those conversations and/or overhearing them.... Tee hee! Thanks for the giggles!

Third, I would love to see the drawing, too! I'd personally scan it and save it for my own memory and laughs down the line.

Last, I just discussed similar issues in the other thread about sex and explaining it to kids.