It is Child Abuse Awareness Month. Last week, I wrote about Child Abuse Prevention.
Later that day,
In the midst of a diaper change, big sister (age almost 4) notices that baby brother and little brother have 'matching bottoms.' Pausing to be thankful that I was paying attention to her every word and my brain wasn't in the land of make believe, I embraced the teachable moment. Last week, you may have caught on that this topic is important to me. Anyhow...
Darkness to Light explains that it is best to teach our children age appropriate language for body parts:
I explained to her that we all have 'matching bottoms'. I told her the anatomically correct names for boy and girl parts. I told her that God made girls and boys different and that our parts are very special and 'just for you.' She identified that Daddy had the same parts as the brothers and that she and I had the same parts. We've previously talked about strangers, so I introduced them to this topic. I asked her if she thought it would be OK to let strangers see her parts or touch them, and she gave a strong NO, and then my heart leaped with joy! She said sometimes she touches there to wash, and I told her that was OK. We talked a little more about this. Then, she came over and gave me the biggest hug she has ever given to me. And I was grateful.
Can I just tell you people out there something? I was so completely dreading ever having to have this talk, but I knew it was REALLY important, so I was really thankful that it happened, but I was scared out of my mind that I would say something wrong or that she would see how extremely uncomfortable it made me. But, it turned out fine. Better than that. I'd say it turned out wonderfully.
I am here to say, you can talk to your kids about this and you must! And it isn't as difficult as I thought it would be. So, look for your teachable moment and prevent child abuse in your family!
To learn more about Child Abuse, visit Darkness to Light.
For more great tips, visit the carnival at We are THAT family.
Thank you and come again!
2 comments:
Great post. We have, from the time the boys were born, just defaulted to the proper name for body parts. We figured if it wasn't an unusual word, it wouldn't be embarassing or hard to talk about later (well, at least the word would not be hard to talk about). Now, this does lead to a few interesting moments in church or stores. But, the words are no different than the words for other body parts.
Ah, and we had one of those moments this past week when big brother explained to little brother what that part was when baby brother discovered his. Yeah, fun times. Hehehe
This was just a great post to read. A wonderful reminder for me! I want to be honest with my kids but I need to take some initiative in this area. Thanks for posting and for linking to WFMW.
My latest post: Deceived by Complacency
Post a Comment