A Novel Parenting Concept

Recently I started to receive a free subscription to RedBook magazine (another awesome score on Hey, It's Free!).  To be honest, until  I received the subscription, I had never read it before; but their ploy worked, because I am now thinking about subscribing.  There are items in the magazine that are not for me, but in general, I am really enjoying reading it.

There is an article in their March 2011 issue that really intrigued me and I wanted to share the concept with you.  It is titled "Forget Sex - Have the Love Talk."  Wow.  What a novel idea.
Day in and day out, through media, family, schools and mom's groups we continuously hear about the sex talk:  how we are dreading it, tips on making it effective, ideas on how to broach the subject with your child, and so forth.  I don't believe I have ever heard about giving my children "the Love Talk."

Now, I am not going to get into the many debates surrounding the sex talk, but, generally speaking, I do personally believe that sex and love should go hand in hand.  This article touched on talking about more than just sex, like discussing romance, crushes and falling in love.  Your children see you interact with your spouse, but often times they do not fully understand what they are witnessing, because so much of it happens when they are not around.  RedBook even mentions discussing your own past crushes and relationships.

I will never forget my first boyfriend.  I was in grade school.  The extent of our relationship was passing notes and flirting through a mutual friend, but we considered ourselves a couple (and briefly mentioned "going steady").  He even let me borrow his jean jacket.  I thought this was a relationship.  I thought this was love.  I was envisioning wedding bells and pidder padder of little feet.  I was obviously very, very wrong.  Luckily, I was naive enough to not make any mistakes I would later regret.

We give children the sex talk.  We tell them they should wait until they are in love to have sex.  We never tell them what love is.  How then, do we expect them to know when it is right to have sex?  And even if you do not believe that sex and love should go hand in hand, as long as you believe in love, isn't it only fair to teach your children about it, rather than having them learn the hard way?

Have you had to give a sex talk yet?  If not, have you thought about how you will handle it when the time comes?  Has "the Love Talk" ever entered your equations?

P.S.:  I also recommend checking out Liz's blog, Mom-101, featured in the March 2011 Redbook issue.  She is a writer who has a wonderful sense of humor about marriage and motherhood!