Advice: The big "talk"
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Advice: The big "talk"
| Sun, 02-18-2007 - 7:28am |
Okay, I need advice on when people started or will start to have the big "talk" with their kids.
My oldest is going to be 9 next week. I have some friends telling me they already had this talk with their children at this age. She just seems so young to me. She still plays house, school and dolls with her little sister. IMO, telling her about sex is going to take some innocence away from her. But, am I sheltering her too much?
She knows about periods and body hair development. She already has little breats "bumps" (as she likes to call "em).
Agghhh..I really thought I had until she was 12 to have this talk like my mother did.
What is everyone's opinion?

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Andre 3000, Bjork, David Arquette and many in what are called "creative fields" (fashion, art, music etc.). These are adults who embody a dress sense that is about visual impact minus an attempt to look traditionally sexy. Lots of children dabble in this dress sense and I rejoice when I see them at the grocery store wearing their visual statements. Fuschia mocossins, spangles, glitter, hot pink, lime green, Batman everything, synthetic tulle, Spiderman light-up shoes and an abused t-shirt that they are in the process of loving to death. These are wonderful things on children. They can also be wonderful things on adults but there are fewer venues and professions where it is considered suitable.
I can understand the objection to clothes advertising a sexuality that doesn't exist yet. And a great many subthreads have been devoted to parsing what is or is not such advertising. But what I can't understand is objection to things that are not premature sexual advertisement but merely bold visual statements about what a child likes and considers visually interesting- be it lights in shoes or fuschia. Picasso said that all children are artists and adult artists are simply the ones who didn't shed that side of themselves along the way. When I read that I just thought of painting etc, but after this thread I can see it applies to clothes very well too. The path from toddler to David Arquette and Bjork is paved with lots of interesting clothing choices that have nothing to do with trying to look "adult sexy" (or imitate iconically sexual adults) and everything to do with clothes as visual statement.
I wish I had that luck.
PumpkinAngel
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