Just a quick post. It is busy here, but a good busy. The weather is rainy but it is necessary to bring the beautiful May flowers.
Last night our family was watching a movie together. Something happened and I can not get it off my mind. The movie was Dr. Doolittle and it was on the AMC channel. Suppose to be very family oriented. I was half watching/half reading. On commercial I was engulfed in my book and all of a sudden Charlotte says, "Mom, what is herpes?" My head shot up out of the book and at the same time I heard the end of a commercial claiming "we can help sexually active people control their herpes outbreaks." Good Grief!!! I had no idea what to say to my daughter. I said, "Dad, your daughter is asking a question." He was no help. He said something about cold sores. That is all I need is for my kids to see someone in the store with a cold sore and say "Hey, she has herpes!" I tried to explain, but am sure I fell short. Zachary piped in with "I think you get it from sin." Oh my! This is not a conversation I was prepared to have. Maybe that is my fault and I should be prepared at all times. Is it wrong to not want your children to know about these things? Is it wrong to want to protect their innocence? I feel like my children were violated, yet I am the one who let them watch the television. What a can of worms were opened up here! I want to throw the TV out!!! Sweetheart will never allow it. What can we do??????
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11 comments:
First thing you do is relax, and the second thing is explain to Charlotte what it's all about. There's nothing worse than your kids getting their information from other kids..... who don't know anything..... Unfortunately these things are a part of our society now, and we need to educate our kids, because if we don't someone else will and normally they'll do a terrible job.
My 2 cents worth.
Well, the mouth sores are caused by Herpes as is Chicken Pox and shingles, just a different type. Now, did you want to answer just the question because that would have been one way. It is a virus. My daughter says I always gave them more info than they wanted but I always felt it was better than having them learn the wrong facts somewhere else.
This is just the beginning though. There are so many commercials now which relate to sex and promiscious behavior. One way to avoid them is to get a Tivo and record the shows ahead of time or record while you watch and fastforward through commercials.
If you want to answer the question as simply as possible(believe me television isn't the only place they come from) think about how they asked the question.
I can remember when it was embarrasing to me to see a commercial for sanitary products.
I think Zach's answer was right on!!
Mama Bear
Nope, it's not wrong to want to protect your kids from too much information too soon. One of the many (many,many,many) benefits of homeschooling our kids is being able to protect them from that too much too soon phenomenon. Yes, you want to be the one to give them the information they need, but you want to do it on their timetable. I echo the seniments about using something like Tivo, or pre-recording stuff. By the way, I LOVE Zach's answer. He's a smart boy!
I would second what Linda said. I try to moniter what my kid's watch on t.v. and it's always the ad's that get me! The viagra ads are on prime time in Ca. now! The only thing to do is educate them ourselves...when they're young you can just rent DVD's and never turn on the T.V. that's what I did but as they get older you really can't do that anymore. Well you can but I don't know that it's beneficial. We have to guard against parenting in fear, I have seen some bad fruit from that. I would highly recommend the book Age of Oppurtunity by Tripp (can't remember the first name) the theme is taking advantage of things like this to reach our children's hearts and how sometimes things we perceive as bad God uses for good :)_
I agree with Linda's thoroughly perfect answer & reaction. It is all part of life, & a calm reasonable response is the best approach.
However, I do find it rather odd that such a commercial was aired during Dr Doolittle?
I did have an answer, but I like what everyone else said much better! My mom always answered me without acting embarassed. She always answered just the question, and didn't offer any more unless asked.
I feel your pain though! I try to keep the TV off, because all of those ads annoy me! Then you've got the underwear commercials, Victoria's Secret, Viagra, nice commercials for certain TV shows that I don't like.
They need to learn about all this stuff sometime, and it is probably a good idea to answer as they come. TV isn't necessarily too bad....but it's definitely the commercials that get you! If it isn't that stuff it is all the toys it makes your children think they need, or the food they think they have to eat! And we pay how much money to have the privilage of this coming into our home?
I know this is long, but I just thought of one thing, I saw an article online somewhere that I loved. I'll have to see if I can find it for you!
Blessings
Monique
GIRL I HATE COMMERCIALS my kids sing viva viagra and LOVE the smiling Bob commercials. I just groan and cringe. Let me know when you find the answer sigh. x oxo
Hi Bren,
Wouldn't it be nice if our babies came with a "How to Parent"lol
Our kids are under sooooooo much peer pressure etc. seems these days kids can't enjoy the wonders of childhood.
I'm with you I'd Love to throw the t.v out!
Hope you're having a good week.
Blessins',Lib
I would have simply told my kids that they are sores you get on your bottom. They would have squirmed at the thought and the conversation would have ended.
I teach my kids on purpose a have a great set of age appropriate curriculum that I use. It is Christian based. They need to now the truth to be safe.
I think the best answer is Linda's too for what it's worth. I dislike commercials too, but things will come up. I think I might also tailor some of the response to the age of kids -- Zach may need a slightly different answer than Charlotte does. It's not wrong to want to protect our children , it's natural.
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