Chicks Dig Him

L is attending camp again this week at our health club. This time it’s “All Star Sports” where the kids are exposed to a variety of sports and games. Today (his second day) I dropped him off and before we even got through the check-in, a girl counselor started yelling to him from across the room, “Hey L!” She’s waving and all friendly and excited.

That’s nice. After just one day the counselors know the kids’ names and are genuinely excited to be there playing with them.

This afternoon I returned to pick him up and on our way out another girl, a participant in the camp, was yelling to my son and high-fiving him. Hmmm…

So at dinner, I teased him a little bit. “L, what’s up with all these girls yelling your name and all excited to see you?”

I expected him to shrug or act like he didn’t know what I was talking about. Instead he covered his face and giggled. Was this embarrassment? Then he ducked under the table to hide for a minute. I dropped my fork and stared at my husband, wide-eyed. A non-verbal conversation took place between us that went something like this:

“Dude, is he seriously embarrassed?”

Cringe.

I can’t remember how old I was when I was officially informed about sex. But somehow I doubt I was 8.

These days, I think children mature faster. They are exposed to more, at an earlier age, and my job as a parent is to be aware of that. But coming face to face with the issue is kinda freaking me out. I don’t think I’ll have a problem explaining the physical act and “how babies are made,” but what makes me nervous is discussing the concept of “bad touching.” Oh sure, we’ve already talked about how you don’t allow anyone to touch your private areas, you don’t talk to strangers, etc, etc. But once he knows the facts, I can just picture the look on his face while I try to explain that there are men in the world that might like to do some nasty shit to little boys. Ugh.

How did you handle this topic with your kids?

~~~~

A few minutes ago, L came up to me and admitted the following:

“Most kids aren’t that good at all the sports, but I am good at every one we’ve played so far. So the girls just think I’m good.”

Oh. So that’s it.