When Enough is Enough

Being a parent comes with a lot of challenges... from labor to potty training to the first and last days of school.

And some where in between, we are expected to teach our children about how, well, children are made. I know a lot of parents stress over having "the talk." It seems like a daunting task to teach them about the birds and the bees.

I don't really dread discussing it though. Maybe it's because I want to be the one to do it, instead of leaving it to school nurses or peer groups. I want to make sure I'm tuned into my children enough to sense and answer these questions to their satisfaction before they go looking elsewhere for their answers. Plus, I never want to give her more information than she is actually looking for.

Being pregnant, my oldest daughter, Charlotte, has started asking some of these birds and bees questions. The first one was how are babies born. That was an easy one for me to answer, and I even found an animated version of birth to show her the mechanics. She liked that and has asked to watch it several times.

Then today, while we were driving through town, she finally asked one of the next logical questions - how does God make babies?

Despite my eagerness to answer these questions, I still had a moment of wondering what the heck I was going to say. So, in an attempt to not give her more information than she was looking for, I asked, "what do you think?"

After considering it for just a moment, she replied, "Hmmm... I think He puts a chemical in the mommy's tummy to make the baby."

Relieved, I grinned and said, "Yeah, it's something like that." And then I waited to hear her next question...

"Mommy, how do those shoes get up on the wires?"

Yep, my response was just enough for this quirky almost 5 year old!