When my son Nicholas was almost 4 years old, he crooked his little finger at me one day and said, “Want a kiss?” Getting my active son to stop long enough to hug and kiss me was always a challenge, so naturally I said, “Yes!”
The days of “the talk” are over. Think sound bytes.
|
I remember he closed his little eyes and kissed me. Suddenly, out of nowhere, I had this vision of him kissing a teenage girl! My eyes popped wide open, and in my mind, I could hear myself scream, “AHHHHHH.”
The vision seemed as real as though I’d watched it on live television. I took it as my wake-up call to become more intentional with the messages I was giving Nick about love, sex and relationships. In fact, after he finished his little kiss and ran off, I got busy thinking of ways to lay a positive foundation of healthy relationships in his life.
Ages 0-7 are an intense time of brain development; children are at many different levels of emotional, social and character maturity. Girls are often ahead of boys, and this must be considered when you talk to your child about love, sex and relationships.
You wouldn’t think so, simply because of their young age, but these years are very important in laying a foundation of healthy sexuality. What does it require from us? It requires us to be intentional, prayerful, informed and committed to talking often with our children.
The days of “the talk” are over.
There are too many messages in the media
and other sources vying for our kid’s
attention. We could all learn a lesson from
Disney about communicating with kids. Think
sound bytes. Know your key
messages. Really connect with
your children,
broach
the messages
briefly and then return to them later
for more explanation.
— Amy Stephens
