He should have told her not to worry, they'll teach her all about in the 5th grade. That will give her a couple of years to stew over her decision. By then a couple of her best friends will be pregnant and he'll really have an opportunity to teach her something.

That's the thing about children, they teach you not to 'react suddenly', hear what they have to say, and you must do it all with a straight face!

This practice from home has worked wonders for me in the business world.

She wasn't asking a question--she already knew the info.

I NEVER discussed such personal things with my dad, despite being very close. There are some topics that were kept private, i.e. between Mom and me (I grew up in the 70s). Now, thanks in part to public education, everything's out there for discussion. As a teacher, I have to scrape my brains off the inside of my skull when I overhear some of my students' conversations.

Hmmmm.

Yep. She was after the ice cream.

To me that doesn't seem like a big deal.

Which must mean I am already well prepared for my daughters to be that age.

She knew what she was doing. His regular distraction method must be ice cream and she knew it.

And?

I have two daughters, aged 10 and 16. My step daughters are 12 and 14. I get questions like that all the time.

"Go see what your mother thinks." gets you out of many such tricky questions and statements.

You do not have children because you are terrified of having an intelligent conversation with a child?

Doesn't that border on the self-involved?

goddess, as the father of a past and present nine year old I can tell you that they think they have all the info, but when they make such a statement one had better seize the opportunity. Since many children get ice cream instead of direction from uninvolved parents, public schools are nearly forced to step in. Look at teen pregnancies and those little multi-colored bracelets. TV and poor parenting are the real culprits.

Not only did I not know what a tampon was at that age, I had no idea what sex was until I was 11. At which point my response to my mother was along the lines of "You have GOT to be kidding me." Of course I lived in suburbia, not on a farm, and was pathetically ignorant. Which IMHO is a good way to spend one's childhood.

Yeah, Jay, we're all grateful you didn't have children . . . lol.

But it's easy to take these things too seriously from a child at a young age. The kid was really looking for reassurance that everything will be all right when she starts bleeding.

You remind me of the fellow whose young son asked him, "Daddy, where did I come from?" He took a deep breath, sat his son down, and talked calmly and rationally about every aspect of childbirth. Finally, relieved that it was all over, he asked his son, "Does that answer your question?"

The kid said, "I guess so. I was just wondering . . . Tommy says he is from Cleveland."

;-)

How the heck could he reply to that? "Good thinking"? "I'm proud of you"?

How to reply? That's easy:

"Ok, that sounds good. You probably have a few years to make that decision, and your mommy could probably give you some great advice if you ask her. She knows a lot more than I about these things, because don't have a c*nt you f*cking little sh*t!"

Now, while many will read this, take to heart that I didn't actually deflect with ice cream on this one, ( the ice cream was when she was 7 and asked me why women can kiss each other with their tongues but men can't) I actually told her very good advice, didn't make her feel silly for asking, and I was proud she was comfortable telling me her opinion. It also reminded me how older cousins can blab a lot to younger relatives. However, for those who worry about what I said. Remember that despite the out of the blue surprize, I DID NOT crash the van we were in at the time ( a testament to my ability to focus and concentrate at milestone moments in my fatherhood experience)

How about "That's your choice."

Actually, I quite agree with his stepdaughter. And that's all I'm saying about that.

If you are missing out on having kids due to the fear of a question like that ...

I am going to question your manhood friend. :-)

I've often said that if someone doesn't want to have children they shouldn't have them but it's hard, really hard, not to say "But stuff like that is the FUN part!"

My husband was scared of his baby girl for about two days, about as long as it took for me to recover from giving birth and tell him to get his head out of his back-side. Parenting is learn-as-you-go. It seldom comes in bits so big you can't deal with them. By the time you've done all the doctor stuff having the kid, delivery, diapers and body fluids... a remark about tampons over pads is chump change.

Synova is exactly right.

In fact, there are worse things most people hear from their 9-year-olds, especially if they have older siblings.

It's all good.

If menstruation is an issue, it's likely you'll never make it to fatherhood in the first place. But, if after wiping the vagina and anus of excrement for two years doesn't break the ice a little, then watching them play with themselves as they go to sleep from 4-6 will (before they become discreet). Then you can watch them learn to dance, fall in love with Johnny Depp, and shop for training bras. There is a continuum of behavior that prepares fathers so "pads or tampons" barely generates a response.

Wait until you hear 10-year-olds talk about who has boobies and who doesn't. Who has hips and who doesn't. Blah blah blah.

I guess Jay just isn't cut out for fatherhood.

Just glad I had a SON