For the Sake of the Children
I wrote about this before, but it still annoys me. The AP is again talking about the fact the people like to complain about the book And Tango Makes Three. Ignorance annoys me. And ignorance for the sake of the children annoys me with the power of a thousand suns. The parents who complain about this kind of book are the same type of parents who can’t bring themselves to talk about s3x* with their children, or even call their body parts by the appropriate names, instead giving them nicknames like woo woo or whatzit. Ridiculous. If you can’t say the word p3nis* to your son, good luck. Good effing luck with your head in the sand. That’s the kind of thing that puts the subject of reproduction (or *gasp* intercourse for purposes other than reproducing!) on a very high shelf, which makes it more intriguing and more attractive and then the kids find out about an awesome book like It’s So Amazing and find themselves feeling ashamed, but titillated. That is not a healthy combination. Pretty soon, because they got a taste of this forbidden subject, they’re desperate for more and since they can’t get their curiosity satisfied in a healthy way, by asking their parents about it and being provided with good age-appropriate books on the subject, that’s where p0rn from the neighbor or the dad’s stash comes in really handy (because, mark my words, the households who protest so much are the households where the dad definitely has a stash that his wife probably doesn’t even know about). And it’s not a good idea to learn about the birds and the bees from materials that are not age-appropriate and do not treat s3x as the important thing that it is. Can you say, deviant behavior?
S3x is a normal part of life and should be discussed as such with people. Children are people, just in case you didn’t know. And they have reproductive organs, even if you don’t want to believe it. Homosexuality is a normal part of life for some people and if kids were allowed to learn about it, they might feel they could come out with dignity and love, or if they’re not gay, they would be able to give their gay friends dignity and love when they come out, then we’d have less Ted Haggard situations in the world. Yeah, heaven forbid your child should be allowed to feel that his homosexual feelings are ok. It’s better if he tries to deny them and gets married and has 5 kids only to be living on the down low and blowing apart his life and his wife and kids’ lives in the process. Messy. But at least you didn’t have to explain homosexuality to a child. Horrors.
*Because there is so much deviant behavior in the world, caused by stoopid parents who won’t provide their children with non-judgemental information about one of the most normal things in life, I have to type those kinds of words like that so the deviants who google certain things don’t stumble upon my site. Stop being stoopid. And buy some books for your kids. Then let them read them whenever they want so it takes the mystery away and it becomes no big deal instead of this thing to simultaneously covet and feel ashamed about. You can start by calling their parts by the right names because if you can say those words, it’s much easier to say all of the other things you need to say over the course of a lifetime of parenting.
May 8th, 2008 at 10:25 am
Go Abby! Peyton went through a stage a few months ago where he would ask every person we met if they had a p3nis. Then if they said yes, he wanted to know where it was. Slightly embarrassing, but still less embarrassing than him asking if they had a wee wee.
May 8th, 2008 at 11:09 am
My children do not have genitalia. They are smooth like Barbie and Ken. This is what I tell them over and over again and I tell them children who can see genitalia are sick sick sick so to look away and remember that they are smooth and without sin. I think this way works really well and people like you deserve to have your children removed from their care and placed in workhouses with other sick kids who have been bludgeoned with reality by un-loving parents.
May 8th, 2008 at 11:53 am
love the post- i was annoyed today by that book talk too- loved the book- so sweet and caring!
May 8th, 2008 at 4:51 pm
I don’t get it either…mine is 9 and knows where babies come from and how they are made….sex is not a dirty word. But I have to admit that we’ve had to talk about not “enlightening” people though because I’ve already had one parent get really angry that my daughter was reading “porn” (yes…that is what she called an age appropriate book where things like penises, vulvas, and tanpoms were discussed). I grew up hearing appropriate terminology too so except for her “vulva” phase (she really liked that word!!!) I was never sorry I taught her appropriate names.
The other day my husband said that at work two ladies were very anxious about having the “talk” with their almost 12 year old daughter…good grief…I wonder how much misinformation that poor kid has been gathering from her friends because her mom has been too scared to discuss things with her.
May 8th, 2008 at 9:28 pm
you R a prevert…we plan to let Elliott learn by doing. talking about it is what dirty folk do.
May 9th, 2008 at 7:39 am
Sing it, sister!
May 9th, 2008 at 9:47 am
Maybe the Mom has a stash too you know.
May 9th, 2008 at 10:58 am
Kristen, mothers are pure and precious and really do not have needs of any kind. Except for the need to care for everybody all the time, no matter what. You are disgusting. This post only applies to pre-mother people. Everybody knows that once you become a mother, your vagina has only one purpose and that is to turn itself inside out for the purpose of spewing forth life. How that life got in there is irrelevant.
tee hee
May 12th, 2008 at 10:28 am
Oh Abby, you crack me up.
Note: My library has that book, 10 copies of it, and there are more than 100 people on the waiting list. I think it sounds sweet and I added myself to the list.