Teen Talk

Being open and honest with your child, especially your teenager is so important, especially in this day and time. Girls feel so much pressure (boys may have some of this pressure, but not all of it) to be thin, attract a mate, lose their virginity, make perfect grades and do volunteer work to get into college, and dress in the very latest fashion to fit in. WIth so much pressure, you wonder how they ever make it to adulthood!

One of the best gifts I think we can give our children is to be open and honest with them no matter what. My closest friends know just how serious I am about this. I would say that Casey knows more about her body than most 40 year old women do. That may be the nurse coming out in me, but I think it's important. Whenever Casey has asked me a question, I have answered her honestly. My philosophy has always been that if she's old enough to ask, she's old enough to know the truth.

It's very important to teach our children about morals and values, but it's also important to teach them about the reality of life. Yes, I'm talking about sex. Teaching them ONLY abstinence and not how to protect themselves, should (or should I say when) the situation arise(s), is doing them a great disservice in my book. It's also possibly putting their lives in danger. When I was younger, it was not talked about as much as it is now. It was all hush, hush for most of us growing up. I don't think it should be like that. I think parents should be able to openly talk about this, and other subjects such as drugs, eating disorders, teen suicide, and peer pressure with their children. They are going to learn it from someone. Isn't it best to come from the parents?

Casey told me recently that all of her friends are saying they learned about all of these things from their friends, siblings, sibling's friends, etc. Casey said she was the only one who told her group of friends that she had learned these things from her mom. How sad is that?