Sometime during her freshman year, College Daughter came home and I received one of those very sarcastic, "Thanks a lot, Mom!" comments. During an anatomy & physiology class, circumcision became a topic. And my daughter felt like an ignoramus for having no idea what that was! Who do you think got blamed for that? Granted, I never did tell her about it, but the topic just never came up. We had our (albeit brief) sex talks. And I guess the books I gave her about human sexuality failed to mention it either. It was just one of those things that slipped through the cracks. It's not like I ever thought about circumcision after I was finished having children and she was only five when her brother was born, so we weren't having any show and tell either.My own parents certainly never shared the information with me. I must have learned about it through osmosis, because I definitely knew about it by the time I was her age. Then again, I grew up in a predominantly Jewish community, so a bris was about as common as a birthday party. It's just something I knew about, but didn't dwell on.
For some reason, she seemed shocked that I failed to ever mention it to her, a person without a penis. Weird! She then asked if her 14 year old brother knew about it. Well, I had no idea........that seems like a dad topic to me! She asked him and he said he did know about it. Further questioning proved that although he did indeed understand what it was, he, like me, didn't know how he knew about it, he just did.
So, if you haven't had the 'circumcision talk' with your girls, this is a public service announcement to do that. Slip it in somewhere between calcium is good for your bones and stranger danger.
Well, I don't have daughters, so it's hard to say if I'd have mentioned it. But I have talked with my boys about things like menstrual cycles and other girl-related things. Actually, what's weird about your story is not that you failed to tell her about circumcision, but that she never heard it mentioned anywhere prior to college. How did that happen?
ReplyDeleteMine is only two, so I'm going to guess that she is a touch young yet. But I will put it on the to do list.
ReplyDeleteAgent - I know! You'd think with the internet, she would have run across the topic somewhere. Plus, all the medical shows she's watched over the years. Weird!
ReplyDeleteRuss - Once they reach a certain age, they find things to blame you for. Give it time!
Well, I've never particularly mentioned circumcision to my daughters, either; I guess I never particularly thought of it as a 'need-to-know' thing for them. Altho I'm sure they've encountered the concept in a Bible study here or there, over the years. . . (and for some odd reason, the concept of their main exposure to 'circumcision' happening in a Bible study just makes me smile. . .)
ReplyDeleteAnd just for the sake of saying so, I first heard the word 'menstruation' when I was in jr. hi, but I really had no idea what it was until I had my first GF. . .
When I was a kid, at least in the town I grew up in, probably 90% or more of the boys were circumcised, Jews and Gentiles alike. I'm given to understand that that's less true today, and that there's a kind of 'anti-circumcision' movement in some circles. But we had all our boys circumcised (and if you ever meet any of them, I'd be grateful if you never mentioned to them that I told you that. . .)
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteCraig - You didn't have sex ed in 5th grade health class??
ReplyDeleteYes, there is a movement that's anti-circ, anti-vax, anti-prescription drugs, anti-soy, etc. But I don't want to turn this into a debate :)
oh heck, we've covered that topic at the dinner table. i think it was somewhere between the "how to use a condom" and "what's an erection" topics. yeah, this is dinner talk at our house...
ReplyDeleteApparently I'm just THAT MUCH OLDER than you. . . Or maybe I just grew up in the sticks. . . But no; I never had a 'sex ed' class in my life. Of course, in 8th-grade biology, we had a unit on Reproduction, and that's likely what I was referring to before (I also vaguely remember something from 8th-grade catechism, so apparently 8th-grade was the 'appointed time', from multiple angles. . .)
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm certainly not wanting to stage a debate, either. It's just interesting how social attitudes change. (I should probably revisit one of my old-old posts about how mothers in our community used to nurse each other's babies, back in the day; we thought it was the most natural thing in the world, but for women, oh, say under 40 or so, it's a definite 'ewwwwwww' factor)
Lime - That would scare my children.
ReplyDeleteCraig - That just plains cares me!
OMG, what a faaaaaaaabulous post!
ReplyDeleteAnd your last line just about killed me.....
"Slip it in somewhere between calcium is good for your bones and stranger danger."
Bwhahahahahahahahahaha! FLAWLESS!
Honestly, I can't remember how I ever found out about circumcision because I know my father never talked to me about it. Hell, he never even had the "sex talk" with me.
Not sure if this topic ever came up at our dinner table either, although with our bunch it most likely did on the "Pigs In A Blanket" night.
ReplyDeleteSeriously I don't think it ever was involved in any sex education or other talks with our Daughter, very good public service announcement for us to pass on.
Ron - Glad you enjoy my wit :)
ReplyDeleteYes, sometimes as parents, we hope our kids just learn stuff on the bus. There are some topics that neither parent nor child want to discuss with each other!
Jimmy - Eventually, we all figure some of these things out. I just didn't expect a 'confrontation' on the subject - LOL!
Why?
ReplyDeleteI mean it, what diff do it make?
I mean isn't that one of the best perks of being a parent: creating embarrassing conditions for the brats?
I say way to go, mission accomplished!!
Xavier - I don't enjoy embarrassing anyone. It's just not my thing.
ReplyDeleteSorry, guess you didn't see my tongue firmly planted in my cheek .... :-)
ReplyDelete