Its Time for the BIG TALK

8 years ago, I put my order in for a red headed, brown eyed little girl. 2 out of 3 isn't bad. He gifted me with a red headed, BLUE eyed little girl. I was so blissfully happy! She (Theresa) could not have been more perfect. She was, by far, the best and easiest baby I had. I know this was a gift from God at the perfect time. 6 weeks after her birth, her dad got deployed to Kuwait. He was gone for 18 months. He missed all of those months of "firsts". Not to worry, no damage was done. She watched her brothers and sisters play with this "stranger" like he was part of the family. The look of confusion on her face was priceless. She decided to get in line with the other kids and wait for her turn to be flung into the air by this big man. "If the other kids like this, then I'm sure I will too." She did. It is a great story to show how our example trickles down to even the smallest of our kids. This example is best seen in our family's yearly flu shot visit. We looked Nick square in the eyes and said, "You don't have a choice! You must pretend to be happy about these shots and then watch all the other kids follow in your footsteps." Poor kid...well it worked. I wish you could be a fly on the wall when I tell the kids that its time to get the flu shot. The house roars with excitement. You would think I was telling them we are all going to Worlds of Fun. They are giddy and happy all the way to the hospital. They wiggle and smile and laugh while they wait for the nurse. They all beg to go first. Its toooo funny.

                                            Here they are, getting ready for the flu shot!!!

Whats this have to do with the big talk?? Uhh, nothing really. I just go off in tangents once in a while. Back to the subject at hand. My little red headed girl is turning 8 today. All of our kids know that the 8th birthday is the Big Talk day. That is the day that our child dresses up fancy and goes out to dinner with a dressed up Mom and Dad. We go to their favorite restaurant and talk about the most beautiful and wonderful gift that God has given us on Earth (aside from His own Body, of course...but very closely related as Christ gave His Body to us, the Church, so will Theresa give her body to her husband...if that is to be her calling). Such profound words for such a young girl! Yes it is but its the perfect age none-the-less. When we had this talk with Nick when he was 8, we were not 100% convinced that it was the right time. I mean...8...EIGHT. So, we didn't really share that decision with too many people. It "seemed" right to us at the time but several kids later, I now know that we are right and I'm ready to spread the word. I am even more confident now because of the 2 years of Theology of the Body (TOB) that I have been studying. No longer is sex dirty, sinful, tainted and evil. Its a perfect foreshadowing of the mystery that awaits us in heaven. Wow. That might be difficult for the non-TOB person to hear. It made my ears perk up and beg to hear more. I hope it perks up your ears too.

I read a book called How to Talk to Your Child about Sex by Linda and Richard Eyre. My oldest was probably 3 when I read it for the first time. Haha. I was desperate to learn early! This book, accompanied by the studies of TOB should give Theresa the best talk we've given so far. We also have the book, Where Did I Come From by Peter Mayle that we go through page by page. Yes, it tells everything. We explain everything about sex but leave out what the world has turned dirty (porn, lust, masturbation). That will come later. For now, she needs to understand sex the way God intended it to be understood.

Why so young? Well, I'll tell you. It is the perfect window between young childhood and the moodiness and unpredictability of pre-puberty. They feel old. They feel like little adults with eager ears and have the capability of understanding it without the disgust and dirty faces. That will come later but guess what?? The talk will have already happened! Brilliant! Brilliant I say! LOL. This conversation will be jam packed full of God's love and his plan to call each of us to love as He loves. "...Husbands, love your wives the way Christ loves His bride, the Church." Eph. 5, verse something:) How does Christ love His bride? He gave up his BODY freely, totally, faithfully and fruitfully. This is an "awe" moment. What is sex? Its the giving up your body freely, totally, faithfully and fruitfully to your groom. Not for 6 weeks...not till the end of the semester...forever. Can I hear another "awe". It is so beautiful. More beautiful then I have ever been raised to believe. I can not WAIT until our afternoon out with my beautiful and lovely daughter.

                            Here is my baby in her new bathing suit. Yes, its a real bathing suit!

And how will we spend our evening after this wonderful talk about God's plan for love and sex? Partying and drinking too much pop and eating too much chips and pizza with our TOB for Teens class! What a life. I wouldn't trade it for the world.