Anatomy for Kids: Simplifying “THE Talk”

 

Disclosure: This post has been sponsored by Anatomy for Kids, however all opinions are my own. 

Having THE talk with your kids is not something most parents look forward to. It’s awkward. It’s hard to even know what to say. But it’s an important conversation to have.

I’m pretty open with my kids but this was one conversation I dreaded as a new mom. I decided years ago that it would be easier to start the conversation while my kids were young and add pieces of information as they got older and needed a deeper understanding.

That was less intimidating to me than having one big awkward conversation and never talking about it again.

 

Or I could take my mom’s approach. After I’d already learned to nitty gritty details from my friends one of them dared me to ask my mom where babies came from. When I asked she said, “oh, you know. Sex.” and walked off. I still tease her about that conversation to this day.

Kids pick up on your embarrassment so even though I may still feel a little awkward from time to time I do my best not to let me kids see that because I don’t want them to feel like its something to be embarrassed about. My hope is that talking about their body will be something normal for them so that when questions come up they’ll be comfortable enough to ask.

With new babies coming, my kids have had all kinds of questions. It was a great time for a refresher so I was excited when I heard that Dr. Shelley Metten, a retired UCLA anatomy professor, had created a series of anatomy books designed to teach kids about their body in a clear and age appropriate way. Anatomy for Kids has books designed for boys and girls so they can focus on the individual needs of each gender.

 

My 6 year old is very curious but he doesn’t always know what questions to ask. The format of the book was perfect for him because it was told in a story format, featured kids just like him, and had clear explanations for things that he had questions about.

We read the book slowly because he had plenty of questions along the way. The book was a a great conversation starter and introduced things in a way that made him comfortable about asking questions — even the awkward ones.

My 8 and 10 year old already knew everything in the first book but they kept sneaking over to listen anyway. They both said they want to read the second book for older boys when it is released soon.

I loved that the illustrations were not overly graphic but still clearly illustrated each point. My kids really poured over each diagram and asked some great questions about how things work in their bodies.

Making sure kids understand how their bodies work is so important, not only so they know what’s going on as things change in their bodies but also so they understand that it’s okay to say no if anyone, even another adult, tries to make them do anything they are not comfortable with. We try and make it a habit of talking to our kids every few months to make sure they get all their questions answered and they are in the habit of talking openly with us. I’m hoping keeping this up now will make the teenage years a bit easier for everyone!

Anatomy for Kids has 3 books currently released with one more coming soon:

I’m a Boy: Special Me (Ages 8 – 10) – Coming Soon

I’m a Boy: Special Me (Ages 5-7)

I’m a Girl: My Changing Body (Ages 8-9)

I’m a Girl: Special Me (Ages 5-7)

I’m definitely going to be checking out the next book for my older boys when it comes out. My 6 year old and I had a great experience talking about the book and it cleared up some things that he hadn’t understood before.

Anatomy for Kids also has a great new community so you can discuss some of these issues with other parents and ask any questions you have about having the talk with your kids.