Three...

So Lyndsay and I just watched an episode of King of the Hill just a moment ago about Sex Education.
At the beginning of the episode, Hank and Peggy, Bobby's parents, are disgusted that sex education was going to be taught at school and that it was a parents job to teach their child about sex.
There is a particularly amusing scene where Peggy attempts to tell Bobby about sex but she just can't say the word.... penis.
It made me think about my upbringing. My parents never taught me about personal development or sex. In fact, I'd had two periods, absolutely petrified about what was happening, without ever knowing what the hell was going on. At the start of my third period, my Mum asked if I'd noticed something in my underwear, handed me a packet of pads and told me to stick one on the crotch of my panties.
That was it. I hear about people who had talks about "womanhood" and how they were becoming a lady. I got.. something. Of course it didn't help that I was one of those early bloomers and we hadn't learnt anything about it in school yet.
I never even heard my Mother say the word sex until I was 16 where I was dating a guy nine and a half years older than me. Yeah. Her big talk then?
"You're not having sex with that boy are you?"
Of course I was. So I awkwardly said no and avoided the subject all together.
My Mother and I never really had a really great relationship where we could talk about anything (obviously) but I was kind of dissapointed that she had let me down on that one. I started having sex very early because I was curious about how it all worked. I'd never really had any guidance on what was right and wrong. Which is probably why I thought it was perfectly fine to be sleeping with a 25-year-old while I was 16.
I havn't turned out badly because of it. In fact, I'd say that I know a lot more about sex and all the ways people can make the most of their bodies for their own pleasure. I did a lot of learning on my own very young.
Honestly though, I really don't think it should be that hard to talk to your parents about sex. I occasionally wish that my Mother and I were more able to talk about sex.
I do plan on doing things differently when I have kids of my own. Of course, I don't know just how difficult it will be to talk to my children about the ins and outs of sex and their bodies. But it shouldn't be such a huge deal to say the words penis and vagina to fellow humans who HAVE said body parts. I don't want my kids thinking doodle and hooha are the correct words for their anatomy.
My children will be aware of how they ended up on this earth. They will also be aware that their bodies, and sex [including masturbation] are nothing to be ashamed of. It might just spare my children from making the wrong decisions too early.