My Parent were Virgins

Well...that's what we were told when we were growing up. Mom and Dad always said that they never had sex until after they were married.

I know - gross mental image.

I was lead to believe the "Great Lie" until 6 months after my Mom died when all of a sudden Dad was waxing poetic about his childhood; teen years in particular. He mentioned how a girlfriend accused Dad of being the father of her unborn child and how he and Mom had to deal with THAT little crisis.

"Why was it a crisis?" I asked. "Wasn't Mom your first?"

One dumbfounded look later lead to Dad sheepishly admitting the Great Lie was done just so we wouldn't do the same "dumb stuff" that they did when they were kids. Man, did I ever resent THAT.

I promised myself that I would never, ever lie to my child about this stuff. Whenever they ask me the question (whatever it is) then I will answer it truthfully.

Now I have a teenager. One that I always think is two years younger than she actually is. I have to hope that she knows her limitations while she's out pushing those limits right to the edge. And I know that she is pushing them. We all did it, didn't we? I know that I was certainly doing alot of stuff that my Dad probably still doesn't know about and at a much younger age then he would have expected.

So, as a trip down your own memory lane, ask yourself these questions:

• How old were you when you first smoked a cigarette? (Did your parents know?)
• How old were you when you first lied to your parents? (Did they discover the lie?)
• How old were you when you first drank alcohol? (Did you tell your parents?)
• If you ever used drugs, how old were you when you used an illicit drug? (Did you inform your parents?)
• Did you ever drive illegally, before you had a license? (Did your parents ever find out?)
• When did you first caress someone else above (and below) the waist? (Did you tell your mom?)
• When did you first have sexual intercourse? (And when did your parents know about that?)

And how old do you expect your children to be when they try the same things?

If you feel brave, answer these in the comments section and we'll all share notes.