The Facts of Life

When Jack was four he asked me about how babies are made.  And I said something along the lines of;

"Daddy put a seed inside of mummy, and like a plant does, it grew into a baby"

When Jack was around five he asked me how daddy's get the seed inside the mummy's.  And I said something along the lines of;

"You know how mummy's have an egg inside them, well to grow they need some of daddy's sperm to make them into a baby.  So when a mummy and a daddy love each other and want to make a family, daddy puts his penis inside of mummy.  Actually I have this great book, would you like us to read it?"

This lead to some very detailed and interesting questions and answers that lasted a few weeks.

Last week Jack asked me "Mum if Ella has two mum's how was she made, cause she doesn't have a daddy to put sperm in anyone?"

How do you explain single gender parents to a six year old?

Let's just say that after a slight pause on my behalf the answer went something along the lines of;

"Well, umm, ahh, some mummy's need sperm if they don't have a husband that has any sperm.  So they can get it from the doctor.  So Ella's mummy's got some sperm from the doctor and the doctor put it into her vagina, just like a daddy's penis puts it into a mummy's vagina.  Then the same way as the daddy's sperm finds the mummy's egg, the sperm from the syringe that the doctor uses finds its way to the egg and the baby grows"

PHEW!!

Today Jack asked if someone on TV was a man/woman, like those man/woman's we sometimes see?

This whole raising an aware and open child is fantastic, but I have to tell you that I don't quite feel ready to talk to my child about transvestites and alternate gender identification just yet, so I said something along the lines of;

"Maybe ... are you hungry?"