Conversations with 9 Year Olds

Our conversations recently have been primarily focused on the wonders of puberty.

Jack is beyond curious about what happens to our bodies, what is sex, when do people have it and can you have it more than once.

Dean has no interest in the above and only responds with giggles and ewwwwww....

What follows are a couple of recent conversations with Jack (and Dean, reluctantly) that are worth recounting.

Conversation 1: Jack and I talking about puberty one evening before bedtime. He wanted to know what happens with girls' bodies. I was explaining that girls' bodies will change and like boys, will start to have hair under their arms and that they will start to menstruate. As I was talking I was using the correct terminology in referring to a girls' body - and when I used the word 'vagina', he stopped me with kind of a grin and said 'Mom. You can just call it virginia.'

Conversation 2: We recently had Tom's cousins, Brenda and Anna, over for a long weekend. Anna is Brenda's daughter and just completed her 3rd year of college. Tom was driving the kids home from school (alone) and Jack was asking him about sex - specifically when do people have it. Tom told him that when you love someone very much, that's when you have sex. But Jack knew that, he wanted to know the specific age. So Tom told him 21 years old. Cut to later, at our house with Brenda and Anna. Jack was sitting in the living room looking at Anna, studying her. Below is how the conversation went:
Jack: (looking at Anna intensely) Do you have a boyfriend?
Anna: (smiling) Yes.
Jack: (thinking.....) How old are you?
Anna: (really wondering where this is going) I'm 21 years old.
Jack: (eyes widen, little smile, says while nodding) You're going to have some decisions to make....

And just to highlight the difference between them, here's a conversation that took place the other night between Dean and Tom's cousin Elizabeth. Elizabeth was playing Für Elise on the piano.
Dean: I know this song. What is it?
Elizabeth: It's called Für Elise.
Dean: Ohhhh....I have a friend named Elise. If she were furry, I'd call her Fur Elise.

So there you have it.....the conversations are just as funny as when they were 2 years old, but with bigger words.