Sitting in a Car

Do you believe an 11-year-old asked this question? Wait for it …

Wait for it ...

‘Does a condom work all the time?’

Hmm!

How comfortable are you talking about condoms with your 11-year-old kid?

Or your young person of any age?

I remember the first time I had s=e=x, penis-in-vagina type sex.

We didn’t use a condom.

Nope.

Nobody had really talked to me about that sort of thing.

(I chat more about that in this week’s video.)

So what can us parents say to our young people in case they are worried about this part of growing up?

To hear more about how to chat about condoms, listen to this week’s episode.

There’s even more help is on the way for parents and other caring adults who would like to ‘Become A Comfortable Parent’. To find out more about that, listen right to the end of Sitting in a Car.

This week’s question is a great one if you’re a single parent who has to do the puberty, bodies and sex bit of parenting on your own… 

Or if you DO have a partner, but they’re even less of a comfortable parent than you are!

This week’s question is,

‘Any advice if my partner doesn’t want to get involved in talking to our kids about sex?’

In a way, this question is about consent.

Not all of us are comfortable or able to do all the bits of parenting!

I have a story for you this week about that from my own family

(Watch this episode of Sitting In A Car to hear it).

Yes, our children benefit hugely from open, comfortable convos about bodies, puberty and sex.

But no-one should feel pressured to go against their abilities and feelings of comfort, and maybe even their feelings of safety.

Join me for Sitting In A Car to learn more ways to do your best parenting and talk about sensitive things.

x Sarah

Let’s talk about the secret messages the world sends us… about PUBIC HAIR!

These messages tell us what is ‘ok’ for our body looks like… and what is ‘wrong’ for our body to look like.

This is a subject close to my own heart.

Like some of you, I’ve had a love-hate relationship with my own hair my whole life.

I love some bits of it!

And other bits of it drive me mad.

Join me on week’s episode of Sitting in A Car and let’s talk secrets about pubic hair.

x Sarah

Ps. My free workshop series ‘Become A Comfortable Parent’ is all about helping you to feel more at ease and confident having ongoing conversations with your kid(s). Most of us want to raise confident, caring young people who respect themselves and the people around them.

If you’d like to know when the next workshop starts, head on over to www.sarahsproule.com/comfortable

‘What will my child have missed out on in sex ed because they haven’t been in school for 4 months?’

We’ve a question this week

for parents whose kids have been home from school for what feels like forever.

Which is most of us.

Here’s something reassuring.

What’s wonderful about learning is that it doesn’t take place only in the classroom.

There’s lots of other places and ways that kids learn.

And that’s relevant here.

Check out the website https://amaze.org

Why don’t boys know about cervixes and fallopian tubes? 

How do we expect boys to be understanding when they don’t even know what the word menstruation means?’

For a deep convo about this great question, 

including a funny story about what happens

when ALL people aren’t taught about

ALL the bits of the body, 

join me for this week’s episode of Sitting In A Car.

Today’s question is not really about LGBTQIA kids at all.

It's sort of about what happens in parenting when we don’t get things exactly right…

I have a story for you, about a thing my own mum didn’t get exactly right. 

She was doing her very best – but she was given the wrong information.

(You can hear what happened in this week’s Sitting In A Car.)

So what can you do when you feel that you maybe haven’t supported your kid 

as well as you might have liked to?

Listen watch more to hear my 3 ideas. 

‘If your 8-year-old child is not asking questions,

should you initiate the conversation?

How do you know what they’re ready to learn?’

This is such a great question, because it gets to the heart of what we think about s=e=x=.

And the answer to this question applies to children of every age.

In our video and podcast this week, there are loads of great ways to get this convo started, even if you’re both new at it.

A mum asks,

‘How do you deal with awkward daddies?

Ours panics at the word vagina when our girls say it.’

This is such a super question,

because it allows us to chat about gender,

and the expectations around what certain genders get to say and do.

In this week’s episode, I talk about how to make space for male parents to grow into talking to their kids about puberty, bodies and sex.

‘What do you say when your 9-year-old daughter says she doesn’t want to have a period?’

This is such a good question -

and not just for parents of 9-year-olds who are thinking about periods,

but for all of us.

Cos this question is really about connection.

This week on Sitting In A Car, I remember when I got my first period.

Because my family didn’t talk about periods, I decided I wanted to keep my period a secret.

(You can hear how that worked out here.)

This week, a parent asked,

‘If I’ve a gay or lesbian child, how do I talk about sex and relationships?’  

This is such a great question.

Because it might seem like it’s a question only for parents of LGBTQ+ young people.

But it’s not!

It’s a question for all of us.

Because it’s really about:

how do we raise children and young people

to be adults who are comfortable being themselves?