Better Safe..

During a recent discussion about pregnancy prevention, the subject of condoms came up. Middle One, specifically, asked what a condom looked like and I told him I’d pick some up and he could see for himself. So, I did.

Yesterday I handed the kids some packets of unlubricated condoms.

As you’d expect, this resulted in some incredible hilarity on about 400 different levels.

There are a few reasons why we did this.

First – Middle One asked. That’s an opening I’m totally not going to let pass.

Second – Oldest One is twelve. We have heard plenty about kids his age having sex, or just “fooling around”, and we determined that having condoms in the house was a good idea.

Third – we want condoms to be no big deal. I do not want them using “I was embarrassed” or “I didn’t know how to use them” or “I didn’t know where to get them” as excuses for not taking care of themselves and their partner.

So, last night, I handed the kids each a few condoms. They opened the packages, giggled, blew them up, tried stretching them up their arms (successfully!), cracked up some more, and then asked if they could have more for playing. (I told them that they could stick with balloons – far cheaper.)

We even did the “how to put a condom on a cucumber” demonstration – we had no bananas.

There were plenty of giggles. Questions about where you can buy them and how much they cost and whether you can use them more than once.

I gave the instruction package to Oldest One so he can read it on his own time – he cracked me up when, after the cucumber demonstration, he said, “And now you must wrap the condom in a kleenex and dispose of it appropriately.” (Direct quote from the package.)

We told Oldest One that we’d be making them available – freely – for him to use or for him to give his friends if needed because we’re THAT serious about him not getting sick, a disease or getting someone pregnant. Ditto for his friends.

I suspect Condom Depot will be our next online shopping adventure – yay for UFC sponsors!

(Do you think it would be unethical of me to swipe free condoms from my college health centre?)

Obviously, we’re very open about sex around here – we talk about, discuss it, answer any and all questions openly and honestly. The boys all have books about sex and babies, know the ‘right’ names for anatomy (both male and female) and we consider the subject to be an ongoing discussion instead of one big “The Talk” chat.

Last night, as we sat at the table eating dinner, we did our usual “Bests & Worsts”. We each take a turn and talk about the good parts and bad parts of our day. Middle One announced that one of the best parts of his day was “CONDOMS!” and we all started giggling.

THIS is how sex-ed should be – funny and open and constant.