Talking to Kids - Ugh . . .Puberty

Talking to Kids - Ugh . . .Puberty

There are many things that I know, not being a parent, I miss out on/will miss out on.  One thing though that I am happy to miss/not have to deal with is puberty. I’m glad I don’t have to deal with and navigate the changing bodies, attitudes, hormones. . .  I obviously have no experience in parenting, but I recently read This mother's description of her tween son's brain is a must-read for all parents and thought it would be good to share.  Many of you have children - some approaching puberty soon, some not for several years.  I like the idea of being very open with, communicating with children, even when it comes to uncomfortable topics like puberty.

This made me think of a podcast that I recently listened to.  They were talking about Pride month and were ultimately discussing wanting Pride events to be for everyone. . .including families/children and how to do it in a way that allows the LBGTQ community to be themselves, while also having it be family friendly.  I, as I’m sure many of you, have been to some Pride parades where I’ve seen some risque things. Much of it though is just more different than risque. They talked about how well kids handle things when you just talk to them and give them information.  They used the example of a man dressed in a pink fairy costume. A child might find that confusing/strange or ask about that, but for many children, especially young children, it can be as simple as just explaining - he likes pink, he likes fairies. That may be all that some kids need.

Once again, not coming from a parent, so what do I know, but it really made me think that sometimes maybe things are scarier or harder for adults to talk about than for the kids.  Maybe we (adults) need to just sometimes face the discomfort and talk to kids. Just my $0.02.