Beta Mum's Blog Beta Mum on 05 Sep 2007 09:49 am
Celibacy in marriage
A conversation with Ben…
B - Mummy, have two cousins ever got married?
Me - Yes, a cousin is the closest family member you can legally marry.
B - Why can’t brothers and sisters get married?
Me - Because if they had children there’s a strong possibility their children would be very disabled. The fact that their parents’ genes are so similar would mean any problem genes would be multiplied in the children.
B - That’s only if they have sex though. Married people don’t have sex do they?
Me - (stunned silence) Well yes, how do you think they have children?
B - Well I wouldn’t want to marry my sister anyway (sticks out tongue at sister across the table)
I think it might be time for a little chat about the relationship aspect of procreation.
But that would probably involve more discussion about why anybody would want do anything “so disgusting” and how you make the sperm come out - two issues I’m not sure he’s ready to understand just yet.
on 05 Sep 2007 at 10:16 am 1.Amanda Regan (madamspud169) said …
Go on have the “disgusting” sex talk between moms & dads I dare you! lol
Just wait till he asks about ummmmmm special “trouser kisses” though.
Thanks for dropping by my site & good luck!
on 05 Sep 2007 at 2:45 pm 2.Mopsa said …
I’m having a love-in with Georgette Heyer at the moment, having somehow passed her by in teenagehood. All her first cousins get married and I just think “euch!”. I had a look at this http://www.weddings.co.uk/info/legproh.htm and couldn’t make head or tail of it.
on 05 Sep 2007 at 3:07 pm 3.Scruffy Mummy said …
Great stuff. I’m not looking forward to the sex talk with my 2.5 year old Our biggest issue at the momenis that my partner has referred to the sprogs penis as a cock a couple of times last weekend (even though we have agreed betweeen us that willy is the acceptable term!) and this morning he said loudly ‘This is my cock!’ We swifly said no willy. To no avail. I dread to think what his nursery thinks of us today.
on 05 Sep 2007 at 6:37 pm 4.Beta Mum said …
Amanda - I don’t want to encourage any kind of trouser-kiss type discussion. I leave that for him to have with other consenting eight-year olds.
Mopsa - that’s a really interesting list. So Woody Allen wouldn’t have been able to marry Soon-Yi if they’d been living in the UK…
Scruff - Oh dear, that will raise a few eyebrows! When Ben was about 18 months-2 years we heard him say very clearly “fock-in-hell” a few times before we realised he was listening even when we thought he wasn’t. I’ve since taken up Famous Five type swearing. Mike hasn’t been quite so careful.
on 05 Sep 2007 at 11:19 pm 5.Mother at Large said …
So it gets loads easier as they get older, then?
on 06 Sep 2007 at 9:08 pm 6.Mutterings & Meanderings said …
tee hee…
on 07 Sep 2007 at 8:13 am 7.Beta Mum said …
MatL - less bum-wiping, more brain-scrambling cross-questioning
M&M - you can laugh, horses are more amenable as far as sex education goes!