Kids are the most inquisitive humans.
They absorb information constantly.
For some parents that’s part of the fun.
But many parents may differ on how to dish out the knowledge.
Case in point…
Redditor FeelingFalcon7364 wanted to discuss her experience and get some feedback. So naturally, she came to visit the “Am I The A**hole” (AITA) subReddit.
She asked:
“AITA for having a conversation with my son?”
The Original Poster (OP) explained:
“I dropped my son off at preschool yesterday morning, and one of the other mothers walked by with her daughter. She is pregnant.”
“My son asked me why she was ‘so big.'”
“I said that she’s going to have a baby, and the baby is inside her for now, but we shouldn’t say people are big, because it can hurt their feelings.”
“My son asked why the baby was inside and how it eats.”
“I said babies grow in mommies until they are big enough to be outside.”
“And that mommies eat food and her body turns it into baby food that the baby gets through a tube.”
“Then I poked his belly button and said that was where his tube used to be.”
“My son thought this was hilarious.”
“We then put his stuff in his cubby, and I left.”
“After school that day, I got a message from another mom saying I was gross for talking like that in the classroom.”
“She said my son heard me and was asking her inappropriate questions.”
“She said I shouldn’t be talking about pregnancy with young children, especially boys, and I had no right to expose her son to such topics.”
“I try to respect everyone’s parenting choices, but is it reasonable to police what I say to my own child because your child might overhear?”
“I don’t think the subject was inappropriate for public.”
“So AITA?”
Redditors shared their thoughts on this matter and weighed some options to the question AITA:
- NTA – Not The A**hole
- YTA – You’re The A**hole
- NAH – No A**holes Here
- ESH – Everyone Sucks Here
Many Redditors declared OP was NOT the A**hole.
“NTA.”
“She said I shouldn’t be talking about pregnancy with young children, especially boys.”
“So she’s sexist. Got it. You didn’t say anything that was inappropriate for that age level.” ~ JohnJohnston
“They literally don’t teach enough female anatomy in schools in this level of detail to males which is stupid (at least they don’t here in the United Kingdom).”
“I presume they expected us to connect the dots given you can literally get sanitary pads for free at school reception.”
“But I can tell you from experience that adolescent males are not known for their incredible intellect.”
“Or they expected them to ask their parents (which in my opinion isn’t reliable either).”
“Ignorance is obviously not an excuse.”
“But these issues start in education (and this isn’t the kind of thing you’d try and search on the internet).” ~ K14_Deploy
“THIS – she’s out of line and being absolutely ridiculous.”
“Like seriously – what were you supposed to tell your son ‘Stop asking such inappropriate questions you brat!'”
“You had a very age appropriate and sweet discussion with son. NTA at all.” ~ EmeraldBlueZen
“Yeah, I thought OPs explanation was cute, informative, and entirely age appropriate.”
“Complaining mom’s son is going to grow up to be one of those guys who thinks we can hold our period in like urine, bet on that.” ~ IAMA_Shark__AMA
“100%. Men absolutely need to know how the female body works.”
“If nothing else, a percentage of men will date women and at that point, being able to understand and help your partner is pretty important.”
“Say, when the time of the month happens for a female it’s a good time to make absolutely sure the house has enough sanitary towels.” ~ K14_Deploy
“Other mom was way out of line.”
“Pregnancy isn’t ‘gross.'”
“Introducing this in simple terms to your child at a young age, when they asked, is absolutely good parenting.”
“Plus ‘especially to a boy’, wtf?”
“This kind of sexism with reproductive education is how you end up with teenage boys and adult men who have no idea how anything works. NTA.” ~ AnonymousWritings
“Hold up, so you’re saying that we should just… like… tell kids the facts of basic biology and human reproduction!??”
“What’s next, explaining to them why they need to eat vegetables?”
“Teaching them to understand and communicate emotions?”
“This woke crap has gone too far, gotta go get my clutchin’ pearls…” ~ nreshackleford
“Obviously it’s better to find out the way I did.”
“When I was 3, my dad let me watch some show with him that had a rather graphic birth scene.”
“I went screaming to my mom, who was fairly far along in her own pregnancy at the time, about how the baby was coming out of her butt.”
“That’s how real parents do it.” ~ TimelessMeow
“Kids are the funniest creatures.”
“My nephew was about 5 when my niece was born (his cousin).”
“He was absolutely fascinated with breast feeding.”
“Why you ask?”
“Well because after it was explained that mum’s produced milk for babies, his child brain was horrified that we were wasting money buying pints of milk!”
“He’d heard his mother talking about needing to save money for holidays so couldn’t understand why she was buying milk… because she was a mum, so was nanny, so why didn’t they just make milk.”
“The funniest day was when we were about to make a cup of tea and he plonked a cup in front of my almost 70 year old mother telling her ‘best make some milk nanny… we’re saving money for holidays.'”
“Then looking me direct in the eye and saying ‘your not a mummy so your going to have to go to the shop and buy some.'”
“My mum almost died laughing.” ~ olligirl
“NTA. You said nothing obscene.”
“You described basic biology in a child-friendly way.”
“By the sounds of it, it might be the most accurate biology her son learns for some time.” ~ AzurePantaloons
“Exactly. My son asked me about pregnancy, and how it happens, at the age of five.”
“Of course I’m not going to lie to him and say something stupid like a stork brings the baby.”
“I told him in a manner that was appropriate for his age.”
“He was satisfied with my answer.”
“Kids can handle it and should know the truth.”
“Otherwise they’ll go off and spread misinformation.”
“Kind of like things that are being spread by a certain group of people in the last six years.” ~ DexterCutie
“She said I shouldn’t be talking about pregnancy with young children.”
“Excuse me, what?”
“Your son asked a question and instead of just shoving him to the side, you answered it in a kid-friendly manner.”
“Like what if you or a partner were pregnant, what are you going to do, tell your son to shut up and stop asking questions and one day a baby just appears?”
“Also, kids talk.”
“They share things they learn that are new or interesting.”
“You talking in the classroom, the car, your house all could have wound back at preschool because like I said, kids talk.”
“If she doesn’t want her kid(s) to ever hear anything that could be shocking, she should keep her kid(s) in the house, without access to the outside world, you know, just in case. NTA.” ~ andreaak88
“Exactly, I have friends with kids and they say some of the funniest things.”
“My friends will ask them where they learned it, and nine out ten times they say it’s a friend from school.”
“I still would love to know what this woman would tell her son about being pregnant.”
“Like the rude awakening this kid is going to have over and over due to his mother not wanting to expose him to norms is going to be jarring.”
“OP did absolutely nothing wrong.” ~ andreaak88
“Exactly this.”
“If a kid is old enough to ask a question, they are old enough to get a factual answer about it.”
“Of course, this should be tailored to their age and level of understanding, but it seems like OP did that perfectly here.” ~ xtaberry
“NTA – the other mother is out of line.”
“Reminds me of my sister-in-law, who asked me when I had the ‘talk’ with my daughter.”
“I sorta laughed and said, ‘Maybe 5? 6? It has morphed over the years as her understanding about her own body grew.'”
“Turns out she hadn’t said a word to my12-year-old niece, had refused to allow her to attend a sex ed class at school, and is ‘afraid’ she is going to start her period and be upset.”
“Our daughters are the same age.”
“I told her my daughter started when she was 11, so she better hurry up, which pissed her off.”
“Turns out that her daughter had been having her period for almost six months, but had been too embarrassed to tell her mother.”
“Blew my mind.” ~ Alarming_Paper_8357
“NTA. Nothing you said was inappropriate.”
“The other parent sounds entitled and very sexist.”
“Don’t discuss pregnancy, especially with boys?”
“How ridiculous.”
“Her child is going to hear all sorts of conversations and will have questions, and no, she can’t police what other people discuss.”
“Ignore her, OP. People like her live in a fantasy.” ~ eppydeservedbetter
“NTA. You had a benign, measured conversation about a biological process with your child that’s good parenting.”
“It wasn’t a graphic description at all the way you put it.” ~ Narkareth
Well OP, Reddit is with you.
You were having a private conversation with your child.
Hopefully this just blows over and doesn’t go any further up the school food chain.