Resource Spotlight: NPR Life Kit Podcasts

“I know I should talk to my kids about sex, but I don’t how!"

​Parents, I hear you. I feel you. I empathize with you. I was in the same boat a few years ago when I realized my daughter was growing at a faster pace than was my knowledge base on how to initiate birds & bees conversations!

Fortunately for me, when I realized it was time to start digging into this subject matter, I was in graduate school writing what felt like a full-on research paper a week. So, with my mind already in research mode, I entered this into a Google search: How do I teach my daughter about sex? (Side note: I am grateful I had safe search filters enabled when I plugged in that question! If you need some guidance on safe search check out this blog post from last month.)

That search was the beginning of months worth of vetting books, reviewing blogs, talking to parents of older children. In essence, anything I could get my hands on that helped me craft the strategy for approaching all the many layers of this topic boldly and confidently! And, in the manner most appropriate for OUR family based on our own core beliefs, value system, and maturity of our daughter. 

In my parent workshop - Prepping for The Talks - I share a comprehensive list of resources by age/stage so they can take what they have learned in the workshop and build their family toolkit that is best suited for their family’s needs. In today’s resource spotlight, I am featuring two NPR podcasts (part of the Life Kit series) I recently reviewed. They are:

• The Birds And The Bees — How To Talk To Children About Sex (click here)
• ​What Your Teen Wishes You Knew About Sex Education (click here)

​
Equally as important as the podcasts themselves, are three rules I have for myself (and highly suggest for you) when consuming resources on this topic:

1. Keep an open mind. While I might not agree with EVERYTHING that is presented (or ready to tackle a particular subtopic discussed), I know that my reaction (positive or negative) is giving me valuable information on the aspects of the talk for which I need to spend more time preparing. 
2. Vocabulary words are one thing. My opinion of a vocabulary word is another. There are definitely going to be words or phrases that make me squirm when I think about discussing them with my daughter. So I don’t get overwhelmed, I think about my daughter’s sex education in two buckets: 1) the definition of a word or phrase and 2) how I will frame our value system around that particular word or phrase.   
3. My consumption of a resource does not mean I have to immediately share it with my child. I want to either initiate or be responsive, not reactive, to my daughter’s curiosity about the various layers of human growth & development and sex education. As such, I am always searching for guidance on the next layer of the talks. Just because I listen to a podcast on how to talk to my middle or high schooler about sex doesn’t mean I’m ready or obligated to run straight to my elementary schooler and download a lot of ‘big info’ that I haven’t even developed a strategy around. It merely means I am gathering information, I have a few more tools in my tool kit, and I am closer to having a plan in place. 

​
Folks, you’ve got this! And if you feel like you still need some more education to be fully prepared, reach out by clicking here. I would love to help you one-on-one or through a virtual parent workshop. 

To stay up-to-date with helpful parent resources, discussion, and upcoming events, please connect via any (or all!) of the following:
www.fosteringsuccessllc.com
facebook.com/fosteringsuccessllc/
instagram.com/fostering_success_llc/
linkedin.com/in/collinsfoster/

---