Car Talk

Last week the kids and I were doing the after-school dash when Stephen leaned forward and the following conversation ensued...

Stephen:  Mom, what's "puberty"?

Me:  [in my head] Really, Lord?  Do we have to do this now?  I thought this conversation would happen between Stephen, Hubs and me in front of a roaring campfire on a Special Occasion sometime in the distant future, NOT on our way to karate with a two year old singing in the backseat and...wait a minute, was that a peanut butter cracker that just flew past my shoulder?

Me:  [aloud]  Puberty is when you reach a certain age and your body starts changing.

Stephen:  Oh.  [Thoughtful pause]  I think I'm going through puberty.

Me:  Really?  We'll you're only seven, Stephen.  I kind of doubt it. 

Stephen:  But my shoes are getting tight.  That's a body change.

Ah, now if only the true woes of puberty could be solved with a trip to Payless...

Comments

[Adventures In Babywearing]

Oh, hilarious. Those car talks will surprise you everytime. Last week in the car I was asked, "What happens when you die?" by my 5 year old!

[misslionheart]

My 8yr old asked me "Mum, whats a bagina?" I told her I didn't know. Phew!!!

[Aunt Murry]

Out of the mouth of babes. I remember when Nephew 5 of 5 was born. I was sitting in my brother's living room with my niece when she announced that she knew where babies came from. She was 8 or 9. My thought was "Here we go." Without skippig a beat, I asked her if she wanted to talk about it and she wrinkled her nose and said " Eww, No!" I said a quick prayer and was glad she thought it was still gross. They will catch you by suprise everytime!

[Lisa S.]

My 8 yr. old son did this to me last month. He got a heat rash in his armpit, and was convinced he was getting hair just like Daddy.
Of course, instead of a private inquiry, he announces at the dinner table "I have hairy armpits because I'm old enough to drive a car now".

[mopsy]

LOL @ your posts and the comments.

Kids.

My daughter is nine. Recently I asked her if she knew what a "period" is. She looked at me like I was nuts and said, "yeah, it's that dot at the end of a sentence!" I didn't take it any farther---I just couldn't. I remember giggling at school every time the teacher said the word "period" during class.

[Oh, The Joys]

Amen to that!

[Kimber]

That is so funny - we have the similar kinds of "car talks" - ugh!

[momrn2]

*sigh* Yes, if only it were that simple.

Hey, I was checking back in to see if the kido's had school today or not.

We got our 3 inches of snow overnight and it's still coming down some... but school is on here.

Did your children fair better than ours?

[momrn2]

*sigh* Yes, if only it were that simple. That is just so very funny!!

Hey, I was checking back in to see if the kido's had school today or not.

We got our 3 inches of snow overnight and it's still coming down some... but school is on here.

Did your children fair better than ours?

[Shannon in Arizona]

no kidding.........

[Abel]

LOL! Love these announcements. When Elliot was 5 or so he got sunburned on his arms. When they were peeling, he announced to everyone, "LOOK! My grown-up arms are coming in!"

[Lari]

Around this time last yr my middle son (6 at the time) asked from the back of our Suburban..."What's a virgin". Hubby and I looked at each other, I asked him where he saw the word..."in my Bible"...we're still looking at each other wondering how to explain this and rather not doing it yelling to the back seat...I finally asked him "how do you spell the word" V-E-R-S-I-O-N...big sigh of relief ;-)

[Heather]

You are too funny! I thoroughly enjoy your posts about your son. He must be my son's long lost twin!

[Glennia]

Oh my goodness...that was hilarious! We have some pretty funny talks in our car as well. I think there is a market for car recording devices; I often wish I had one!

[Sarah (Mrs Blythe)]

Lol, our 5 year old was mistakenly (by my hubby I might add) told our intruder alarm code...which she now merrily talks about in a loud voice to all and sundry with no concern that she is putting our belongings at grave risk...we haven't quite got onto the more sensitive subjects, although she has pointed out (again in a loud voice) the anatomical differences between boys and girls.

[Domestic Goddess]

ah yes, kids pick the most inopportune times to as the big questions don't they!

[Anne Glamore]

We had "the talk" which i blogged about (It's Natural...) and I'll just say that even though I thought I was prepared, I most certainly was not.

My son checks his pits and grown every night for black hairs.

Ack!

[laura]

too too cute!
"the Talk" is a lot easier if one takes it on like you did answering simply. they'll ask more questions if the short, simple answer isn't enough. it's okay to pray that the simple, short answer is enough. LOL it's even better to pray for courage and strength to just face this head on rather than cringing and dreading it all.
i can promise you that it gets easier (and harder) as they grow but the result is so worth it. i am very proud of the choices my 1st born (20 in 20 days!) has made and the way the other two teens are handling puberty and all that omes with it.

[Cindy]

I have no self-control, because I've just sat here for the past half hour reading through your blog and laughing myself silly! I love your stories.

My own car-talk story still makes me wish I'd known you and your commenters when my boys were younger. I really dropped the ball on one of those questions, and they came frequently since I had a long commute each day driving my kids to a private Jewish dayschool.

As we were driving, my eldest, who was 11 at the time, turned and said,"Mama, what does 'gay' mean?"

Um. I didn't want to go down that road, but then, I didn't want him to have a complex. I asked why.

He said,"It's a word in my book, and I can't understand what the story's about."

My heart rate increased. I decided to just explain, and so I did. Not too graphic, but in enough detail that he understood.

He was quiet, for almost too long. "Nope," he said, that doesn't make any sense. It's a girl, not a man."

I am sitting in the driver's seat telling God that if by chance a spaceship should land on earth, that today, and in fact right now might be a really good time. But, I decided to plow ahead nonetheless. I told him what gay meant when girls were involved.

He was silent again, for an even longer time. Finally he said,"That makes even less sense."

I finally had the good sense to ask him to read me the sentence.

"Mama was always cheerful, and her heart was gay."

Oh. Never mind. Are we there yet?

Cindy

[Barbara H.]

Oh, car talks can bring up some interesting subjects! And at that age! I remember once when my oldest was 6 or 7, and from the back seat said, "Mommy, what's sex?" I had similar thoughts to yours -- "Now?? What -- how am I -- " While I was trying to figure out what to say, not quite prepared for this moment yet (thinking his dad would be the one to handle it!), I realized that he was holding a tax form we had just picked up, and my budding reader was reading the things we had to fill in. I said, "Oh, that means whether you are male or female -- a boy or a girl." Whew!!