Let’s Talk About Sex Baby| Talking to Your Child About Sex

A popular Facebook page with a large following posted this:

“A mom fan has a question ” How can I talk to my tween daughter about changes to her body? Also, what is a good age? She is 10 now.”

The truth is, as children/tweens start to develop they will have a lot of questions.  It is important to be honest about the changes happening to their body and what will happen in the future.  It is not about being uncomfortable and thinking about yourself but looking at the facts of development.  Many times, your child will come up with more questions to ask.  Some questions may even seem silly but it is important not to laugh at them or they will not feel comfortable to ask again when they are curious about things in the future.  If your child does not feel comfortable to talk to you about these topics, they may ask someone else, or explore on their own.  It is very important that you normalize these changes as we all experience puberty at some point in our life.

You could always go to your local bookstore and get a book on changes of development and take the opportunity to read nightly with your child.  It is a great bonding experience and it will help give you a format and answer questions as you go along if you are unsure of where to start with the conversation.  Be brave and good luck!

 

Miami-Dade AHEC Seminar

On Saturday, August 29th, I taught a seminar on “The Changing Body” to other therapists, nurses and case managers at Miami-Dade AHEC.  The objectives were to identify and understand natural changes of the body in tweens and teens, understand the emotional stuggles of puberty, and help tweens and teens understand themselves and others.

I was a bit nervous being that it was my first time speaking on this subject, but I did all of the proper research necessary and felt prepared.  It was for 2 CEU’s, so I had to speak for 2 straight hours.  The experience was slightly more difficult because the air-conditioner was not working, so we had to rely on large fans scattered throughout the room.  Miami-Dade AHEC provided customer service personnel that were easy to talk to, quick to respond, and supportive.  I look forward to teaching more seminars on various topics encompassing adolescents.