There I was minding my business when she said it out of the blue: "Mama, you and my daddy have sex." It wasn't even a question. It was a statement, like she knew without a doubt she was telling on me to myself.
It took me a minute to register what she had said but once I did, I was literally lost for words. This girl is 4 years old. In what world is it okay for her to ask me about sex at such a young age? That's it, no more TV!
I had always said that I would talk to my children about sex before they hit puberty so that they wouldn't be out in the world uninformed and experimenting on their own, but today was not supposed to be that day.
So after I asked her where did she hear about that from and hoping with all my soul that she didn't hear us during a "marital encounter", I just explained to her that "that" is something that married people do and she doesn't have to worry about it for a long time. I also explained to her that sex is not something that children talk about.
Yes, it was the cowards way out but I couldn't even think of anything else to say. That should buy me another couple of years, at least until I'm ready to have the real talk.
What do you think, was my approach right or did I miss an important teaching moment? What would you have done?
