Honest Sex Talks

Kids will explore their bodies. It’s natural. Should we talk about masturbation with them? If so, when? Most parents just don’t know how to begin. But ignoring the topic won’t help our children. As parents, it’s our job to help our kids make sense of even the trickiest topics, including masturbation and the danger of pairing it with pornography.  This episode is part of our #DearSavvy series. Sometimes you just want a quick answer to a burning question. These shorter episodes are designed to give you just that. Tune in to the podcast to hear the whole scoop, and check…

Are the porn talk and the sex talk related? They should be! It’s time to consider how media and porn culture are affecting our kids’ sexual development. But first we have to see our kids as sexual beings. Say what? How in the world do we get there?  *WARNING: This episode contains brief descriptions of sexually graphic content.* You’ve heard us say it a million times, but now we have a developmental psychologist and sex educator on the show to back us up: protecting our kids from pornography all comes back to the sex talk! Actually, ongoing sex talks (plural),…

Have you ever had a sex talk with your kids that ended with a look of disgust? Why do we bother having these talks? Does building a foundation of healthy sexuality really help protect our kids from the harms of pornography?  We’re back again … revisiting the sex talk. Do we sound like a broken record? Good! You should too. Because that’s awesome parenting! If we have to remind our kids every day to wash their hands and brush their teeth, why should talking about vital topics like sex and pornography be any different?  This is just one of the…

Masturbation. There are probably as many ways to address this topic as there are families. The question is, how do you start the conversation with your kids?  Okay. We’ll admit it. We were nervous about having this talk too. In fact, the last time we felt like this was probably before an election. You know that feeling? When you have intensely passionate emotions about an issue or candidate? And you just KNOW you are right—and everyone else is wrong! And then you speak out (or post something on social media) and find out that even some of your best friends…

Ah … Valentine’s Day … time for paper hearts, candy, red roses … and a great reason to talk about dating, relationships, and sex with your kids? Absolutely!  What’s your first Valentine’s Day memory? Exchanging those little perforated cards in elementary school? Smearing pink frosting on a sugar cookie? For us, Valentine’s must include chocolate. Lots and lots of chocolate. (Yum.) In the beginning, “liking” someone was so simple, wasn’t it? “Do you want to be my boyfriend/girlfriend? Check the box: yes or no.” Then pass the note back after lunch! But as we get older, LOVE becomes a little…