Synopses & Reviews
Written by two Harvard-trained doctors, this one-of-a-kind survival guide helps parents stay sane through every stage of their child’s sexual development—from infancy to the teen years and beyond.
Our generation was supposed to have sex all figured out. We knew it was healthy. We were too cool to ever get flustered. Then we had kids. And when those kids showed up with sexual ambitions of their own, suddenly we didn’t feel so cool anymore. In fact, the confusion, fear, and (let’s face it) outright panic we felt the moment our five-year-olds started asking, “Mommy, do you like to rub your wiener, too?” might have done our own parents proud.
Well, understanding kids’ sexuality doesn’t have to be an angst-ridden enterprise. With confidence, wisdom, and humor, Dr. Justin Richardson, a psychiatrist and noted consultant on youth and sex, and Dr. Mark A. Schuster, a pediatrician and leading researcher on parenting strategies and adolescent sexuality, help us regain our equilibrium with this remarkable book.
Smart, frank, and occasionally hilarious, this comprehensive guide offers practical and often surprising answers to the questions that bedevil parents at every stage in their children’s coming-of-age. What do you say when your four-year-old daughter walks in on you having sex? What about when you walk in on her and the girl next door finger painting each other’s bottoms? What, exactly, should you tell your third-grader about sex, and if he says, “That’s gross!” does that mean you’ve said too much? And what about teenagers? Should you buy your son condoms? Should you try to prevent your daughter from having sex? Does telling her to wait actually work? Drs. Richardson and Schuster tackle these and countless other crucial challenges you’re likely to face in the first twenty or so years of your children’s lives.
Packed with the latest research on parenting techniques and childhood sexuality and filled with helpful stories from real parents about what worked (and what didn’t) with their kids, this authoritative volume offers advice and comfort to anyone who is hoping to have a productive dialogue with young people about sex. Whether your focus is on protecting your teens from STDs or raising your little ones to understand their bodies, Everything You Never Wanted Your Kids to Know About Sex (But Were Afraid They’d Ask) is an indispensable resource that is sure to leave you educated, entertained, and relieved.
Synopsis
With confidence, authority, and humor, Drs. Richardson and Schuster help readers explain how parents can meet every crucial challenge in their children's sexual development. Among the topics they cover are: how to discuss with your young child nudity, modesty, love, and sex; managing your child's sexual behavior; facing the abstinence decision, and more.
About the Author
JUSTIN RICHARDSON, M.D., is an assistant professor of psychiatry at Columbia and Cornell universities and a well-known authority on kids and sex.
MARK A. SCHUSTER, M.D., PH.D., is an associate professor of pediatrics and public health at UCLA,
codirector of the Center for Child and Adolescent Health Research at RAND, and director of the UCLA/RAND Center for Adolescent Health Promotion.
Table of Contents
How did this happen? : the natural history of your child's sexuality -- What can you do about it? : guiding your child's sexual future and the trouble with talking about sex -- All in the family : nudity, modesty, love, and sex at home in your child's earliest years -- "Don't touch that-it'll fall off" : managing your young child's sexual behavior -- Think about it : considering your child's sexual orientation -- Going over the bump : weathering the physical changes of puberty -- Then comes love : flirting, dating and other heartbreaks of adolescence -- Ready or not : abstinence, virginity, and waiting -- "But if you do..." : the art and science of encouraging contraception -- And so it begins : parenting your sexually active child, from the first time on -- Bugs in the system : AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases -- With child : handling intended and unintended pregnancies.