Marital Intimacy and what children should know

I am no expert and I’m not going to go into details. But I simply will say that intimacy between husband and wife is important to their relationship but not everything. There needs to be more than just sex in a marriage. Also research has shown that it becomes more satisfying the longer a marriage lasts. Another thing that I realized was that you don’t necessarily have to unwrap this gift on your wedding night. This is a fragile and precious gift that should be handled with care, love, gentleness, understanding and patients. It also should be reserved for a man and women legally and lawfully wedded as husband and wife. ‘Nough said.

What should children know in regards to this topic? When do you start teaching them about it? Before this week I would not have known how to answer these questions. But now I have a better idea. You teach them a little bit at a time. Starting at age 3 or so, you teach them to respect their bodies by being modest. You teach them how to treat their bodies. Then you teach them little by little about how their bodies work, what to expect and how to react. You also must be careful to avoid shaming the child into being uncomfortable with their bodies. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as a helpful resource on their website. Here is the link, https://www.lds.org/manual/a-parents-guide?lang=eng. I have found it very helpful, even though I do not have children of my own. I will someday and I’m glad that I have come across this resource so that I will be able to be the best mother that I can be. This topic also reminds me of a talk given in the past General Conference of October 2015. The talk is called “It’s Never too Early and It’s Never too Late” by Elder Bradly D. Foster of the Seventy. (https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2015/10/its-never-too-early-and-its-never-too-late?lang=eng) In this talk he gives advice to parents about how to help their children in whatever stage of life they are in. He says to sit down with them and let them know what they might come in contact with in the world. It is never too early or too late to help you children understand what they need to. It is important to keep in mind your child’s maturity level but it is always a good idea to teach and help them. Your children will always be grateful for your help. I know that I am grateful for my parent’s efforts in my behalf. So no matter where you are at in life it’s never too late to start preparing or teaching your children what they need to know.