I remember I felt I missed something because my mom explained the specifics of menstruation to me and school went into more detail about sex and reproduction. Despite what sitcoms were telling me, no one ever sat me down and said anything about birds or bees. I guess I hoped there was a weird pre-written speech parents awkwardly tried to recall when their kids got to a certain age.
That was my dad’s experience. He was born in 1952 in Ireland, and one day my grandad sat down with him for a very vague and confusing talk which involved both birds and bees, but Dad couldn’t really remember what Grandad actually said.
Society had gotten more liberal by the time or was Dad’s turn to have the talk with me (1996 or so), so Dad was pretty forthright and straightforward about everything, though in retrospect it was probably still awkward for him. Still, I think that even in the late 90s my parents were unusually open; we were a bit unusual for only going to Mass occasionally rather than every Sunday. I remember the other kids at school constantly asking me how babies were made, but I’m pretty sure they just thought it was outrageous that I said “penis” and “vagina” instead of “willy” and “fanny”.
I remember I felt I missed something because my mom explained the specifics of menstruation to me and school went into more detail about sex and reproduction. Despite what sitcoms were telling me, no one ever sat me down and said anything about birds or bees. I guess I hoped there was a weird pre-written speech parents awkwardly tried to recall when their kids got to a certain age.
That was my dad’s experience. He was born in 1952 in Ireland, and one day my grandad sat down with him for a very vague and confusing talk which involved both birds and bees, but Dad couldn’t really remember what Grandad actually said.
Society had gotten more liberal by the time or was Dad’s turn to have the talk with me (1996 or so), so Dad was pretty forthright and straightforward about everything, though in retrospect it was probably still awkward for him. Still, I think that even in the late 90s my parents were unusually open; we were a bit unusual for only going to Mass occasionally rather than every Sunday. I remember the other kids at school constantly asking me how babies were made, but I’m pretty sure they just thought it was outrageous that I said “penis” and “vagina” instead of “willy” and “fanny”.
It must have sucked for your dad but part of me is happy that those sitcoms didn’t entirely lie to me.