Jamie Lynn

Ok ... whatever ... but...

The thing that is driving me crazy about this whole thing is all of these news stories about "How are you going to talk to your child about this?" And then they give examples of would this be something you want to discuss with your 8, 9 or 10 year old...

OF COURSE IT WOULD! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

Its more than 20 years ago since I was a 10 year old and I remember all of the "talk" about "stuff" amongst the kids already starting in school then (kids get a lot of stuff wrong, by the way!). And, like I said, that was 20 years ago!

Kids know way way WAY more than their parents would like to think they do.

The whole Jamie Lynn thing is the perfect opportunity to discuss these issues with younger children.

Let me give you a personal example ...

When I was 6 years old a close relative of mine, who was 17 and still in high school, became pregnant. My mom was extremely honest with me about it and her views on it (nor did she hide this from my 4 year old sister). When I was 8 years old a close family friend who was 18 and still in high school became pregnant. So we had the talk again.

My mom didn't talk about "sex" but in generalities that we could understand as children - and we did.

And in my whole growing up life and talking about "stuff" my mom was able to give me these examples time and again. I knew what my parents expected out of me and what they believed. I would like to think that these conversations would have occurred anyway, but I'm not sure.

This is a teaching opportunity, people! Use it!! 8-10 years old is not too young (nor is 6 for that matter) to discuss these things. There are junior high (and younger) students having sex. How old is junior high?? 12, 13, 14?? So, if you're only starting to discuss these things at 10 ... you may have a little catching up to do!! Believe me, some of them are already hearing rumors about their classmates ... Sad, but true!