Daughters are 17 and 15. I ignore it. completely. I mean I bury my head so deep in the sand I can see Australia.

I hope you put a helmet on before you do that. We don't want to catch something from your skanky head down here. Is your name Mandingo?

I meant upper-class like Juniors & Seniors, but good for you

D'Kid's school is 63% Black, 23% White, 9% Hispanic ... draw your own conclusions

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"What's your claim?" - Ben Gravy
"Your best work is the work you're excited about" - Rick Rubin

I'll reply again on what my parents did with me (as a boy).

My mom came to me one day in HS and said she put a box of condoms in my bathroom drawer. She wasn't asking me if I was having sex or or getting into my business. She just said the box was there for me, she would not take inventory of the box so told me to just remove it. She put a new box in the drawer periodically.

No questions were ever asked.

The tooth fairy was replaced by the condom fairy.

.

Mom: I had to refill Endo's Condo-box again ... That's three times this month!!! What's that boy doing?


Dad:

um, I mean

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"What's your claim?" - Ben Gravy
"Your best work is the work you're excited about" - Rick Rubin

HERO!!!

Know that some girls begin taking the pill to alleviate cramping during menstration. If your daughter complains of this problem, you can talk to her about how by taking the pills can make life easier during that time of the month and also prevent from pregnancies should she decide to have sex. Giving a reason other than the obvious may help take the the stress away from your true intention.

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DISH is how we do it.

I had 2 older sisters and 2 older brothers so it was the same for me.

My daughter, now 23, went on birth control at 14 due to issues with her period. However, we have always been very open and we have talked about sex but most of her discussions have been with my wife. You don't have to go into details with what they want to do but the basics and direction for additional information should be a no brainer.

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TEAM HD
Each day is what you make of it so make it the best day possible.

Like TM said, I think it may help if you give alternative reasons to get on the pill...acne, cramps, irregular cycle, etc... It helps the kid make the decision, as many times they don't want to admit to their parents that they are sexually active or may be in the future. So remove that barrier with other plausible reasons if you need to.

I'm with Tibbs definitely it's the wrong message to send.

First of all it's not 2002, there is nothing embarrassing about it you can get them next day on Amazon. Either way being embarrassed about condoms has nothing to do with maturity, it is just about how easily you are embarrassed. Most of my hockey team in college had the maturity level of a 3 year old. But couldn't be embarrassed if they tried.

Second maturity matters in the decision to have sex at a level of about zero percent, at least for guys. The thought process is do I want to have sex? Yes ok. It's better to be prepared for the inevitable instead of assuming kids will care about their maturity level.

Finally, assuming most people have sex for the first time in high school or college, is anyone really maturity enough to handle the ramifications? Sure there are a lot of people who step up to the plate if they do have a kid, but that is more a posthoc maturity than anything else.

The message should be that they probabaly won't be mature enough when they have sex the first time and that's okay but you need to be prepared incase it happens so you decrease the chance of the negative consequences.

Can see him running around after the cat with his dick in his hand. When asked what he is doing, he will reply I want a new kitten and Dad said that I can help :-)

Daughter is 18 and now living away from home at College (well, Uni here) and son is 16 and has a "girlfriend", but they don't see each other much at all.
I think its more of a matter of saying he has a girlfriend rather than any real relationship.

Daughter got the talk from her mom, son from me and we're all pretty open as a family anyway, probably because I never got the talk from my parents and neither did my wife

DINK! DINK! Haven't heard that in a long time!

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king of the road says you move too slow
KING OF THE ROAD SAYS YOU MOVE TOO SLOW

Thanks, everyone for the feedback. Lots of good information (and more than a few good laughs). It's been awkward, but I feel more comfortable with the subject now.

For those of you in a similar situation, talk about it with your spouse and your kids. You'll feel better afterward.

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king of the road says you move too slow
KING OF THE ROAD SAYS YOU MOVE TOO SLOW

I grew up in a rich, rural/bedroom community. 1000 kids in my HS, 996 white, 4 Asian (2 half-Filipino/white, 2 Japanese). Zero pregnancies in the 4 years I was there.
My wife grew up in the next town over - large, rich college town. 4000 kids in her HS, not 99.6% white. She says between 15% and 30% of girls got pregnant during school.

Anyway, my daughter is 9. Puberty has already started. If she's anything like my wife, she'll be on the pill before boys aren't yucky - cramps and regulation mostly. If she takes after my family, I don't know, I've only got a brother and my family is a combination of Irish Catholic and midwestern German Lutheran, so no one talks about anything ;)

As far as you know.

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TEAM HD
Each day is what you make of it so make it the best day possible.

Just wanted to recommend an IUD over pills for first line birth control for teens. A teenager is going to need long term, reliable birth control and with an iud there is no risk of missing a pill.

ACOG now recommends iuds as first line birth control. Clearly, this should be used in combination with a condom- but it is worth considering for a teen girl, depending on the goal (I.e pregnancy prevention vs acne reduction)

what part of being married before sex is taboo?

it works 200% of the time.

I remind my 13yo, smart, athletic, good looking son who started puberty at 11 and is 13 and looks 15+ to keep in mind the loser 23yo across the street that lives with his parents and has a 6 yo son.

I am open and honest about how mistakes can happen and how I was loving girls at 14+. Tell him the stories when mom isn't around that freaked me out for a couple months in high school.

explain openly that there is plenty of time to enjoy sex once you can comfortably afford a baby and explicitly tell him an abortion is never an option.

Myself, my wife, and almost everyone I knew growing up started having sex between the ages of 14-17 with a few outliers on either end of that. Seems like a no brainer to have that discussion sooner then later, as awkward as it may be.

My dad, great Italian father he is, his talk when I had my first girlfriend consisted of a stern, Robert deniro type of 'you know what I'm talking about' look and this phrase: "don't do anything stupid. You know exactly what I'm talking about."

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Long Chile was a silly place.

My daughter got the subcutaneous arm inserted long term birth control device about 6 months ago. Says it is really common for girls (her peers) now. "All her friends have it", she says.

Having said that, she's had an awful time of it. Her cycle flows continuously and can't seem to get it under control. I think she's at the point of having it removed and go with the traditional IUD.

.

He probably meant births. That was the point I made above, no one at my HS got noticeably pregnant.

Coz ya test drive a car before buying it.

Why buy a car when you can borrow one for free long term?

I said I didn't want talking about sex to be a taboo subject.

You don't have to be married to have sex and I definitely don't want my kids getting married just so they can get it on. Besides, you can tell them whatever you want and they still have autonomous control over their bodies.

I love your dad.

Me too. My old man has rightfully named the nickname 'the godfather'. Short, quiet, unassuming, but when he speaks... You listen.

And it worked! Never slipped one past the goalie (that I know of). I never had issues discussing birth control with girls I was dating or even those I was just hooking up with. Would rather sleep well (the night after!) Then worry.

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Long Chile was a silly place.