I just sent my oldest child off to college. Of course I worry about her. I worry about her safety. I worry that she isn't getting enough sleep. I worry that she isn't eating right. But what I don't worry about are her decisions about dating and relationships. I can honestly say that I do not remember ever having “The Talk” with Becky. That is because from the time she was a toddler, I made a conscious effort to have an ongoing open dialogue with her about sex and relationships. We had some very concrete teachable moments too since she is 6 ½ years older than her sister and 8 years older than her brother. She asked lots of questions during my pregnancies and I didn’t hold back. At times I’m sure I gave her more information than she needed at her age but since we had started the conversations early it never seemed awkward.
She has grown into a young woman with big dreams for her future in music education and she is self-confident enough to be very picky about whom she chooses to date. Although she’s had her share of relationships that did not work out, all of the young men have had one thing in common besides their participation in marching band – they have been respectful to her and to her family. Of course I’m lucky that Becky has been so easy to raise but I’d like to think that maybe our early, ongoing dialogue about sex and relationships have had something to do with the good decisions she has made.
Now I wonder if she’s doing her laundry right…
by: Melaine Foltz, Director or Finance, SC Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy
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