Hi Neeny: Just responding to your comment about not looking forward to the sex talk with your daughter... if you answer her questions from the start... probably as early as 3yo... just with simple age-appropriate answers... then you won't need to have a "sex talk". There are lots of good books about age appropriate answers to inevitable questions like "why do boys have a pen!s". So good communication starts immediately. I think that notion of sitting a 12 yo down and telling them about the birds and the bees is a bit old fashioned now and if you leave it that long then you have to be prepared for them to find out from other sources ie their friends. We had children in our 3yo group at the ELC where I worked talking frankly and openly about gender differences in the playground... that needs to be your cue. You can usually safely leave some details to her school Growth and Development program but don't let the the school do all the work... she'll then wonder why you didn't say anything and it might erode trust. Just a suggestion mind you. I'm pretty proud of how I've helped Verity through the whole issue despite having a bit of baggage from my own upbringing. It's great to know that you've healed wounds of the past and created a better experience for the next generation because it can be so easy to repeat the mistakes of our parents.

I'm just dropping in briefly... very tired after a busy few days... back tomorrow.... hope everyone have lovely peaceful and cool Sundays