# How Did You Find Out About The Birds n' Bees?



## fureverywhere (Mar 20, 2016)

Now this is a question that we want to keep tastefully PG, well I mean if there was leather play or small fuzzy creatures I mean hey we're all adults here. But really how did you find out about babies and all that? I grew up in the 70 's, my poor Mom the 30's. To a devout Baptist family, no makeup or shorts for her.

When I was a pre-teen she got this book series "The Life Cycle Library". I have since seen used copies and oh my, it's almost as if the wedding music is what makes you with child. I'm serious, maybe not that extreme but close. My poor Mom was just so very, very, uncomfortable.

I remember her sitting on the couch with me. The basic biology went over my head. There was a chapter called " A Boy Becomes a Man". I remember her clearly snapping the book shut on that one, end of lesson. Of course I snooped into her drawer on my own and tried to understand it...but no I was still clueless.

Around that time I had gerbils. I remember waking up one morning to major squeaking. It was magical, six new little gerbies. Okay I did understand there was a boy gerbil and a girl gerbil and Dad had to have his own cage or there would be 10,000 little gerbies...and his sons would have to live with him or there would be 500,000 little gerbies. But how it was happening exactly I didn't know.

Then remember in 6th grade when they send boys and girls to different classes for "The Talk". I'm sure if you went to Catholic school you got a completely different talk. But yeah it was mortifying. Then I remember 7th grade and a gym teacher trying to be hip let us pose anonymous questions.

One of the taunts I used to get was "Leslie is a lezzie". From so much reading I figured out the actual word was lesbian. But what did it mean? That was my anonymous question. The teacher got to it and sputtered " Whoever wrote this one question...uh, cough...see me after class". Oh no way in heck...

And I might add my brother was a decade older. He had married and left home, but I discovered maybe three years worth of The National Lampoon in his den. Needless to say that left me more confused than ever. I didn't know what was going on till about fifteen. How about you?


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## Wrigley's (Mar 20, 2016)

I walked in on my grandmother's foster daughter, who was maybe 14 at the time, after she'd just had a shower and was inserting a tampon. I was seven. I followed her down the hall because she was wearing only a towel. Watching the tampon insertion was way more than I'd bargained for. I was fortunate to have a rather free-spirited mother (a nice balance for a strict father with a thick belt), and went directly to her with questions. It was difficult to explain what I saw, but she picked it up pretty quick.

And from menstrual cycles to zygotes she went. She talked for over an hour. Drew little diagrams, even. She was relaxed and mater-of-fact through the whole thing. I wanted to crawl under a rock, sweating in places I didn't know had sweat glands. The good thing is, that talk not only explained what was happening with the girl, it assured me that some stuff that was happening with me was normal.


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## SeaBreeze (Mar 20, 2016)

Very little at home or in school, mostly from my friends or on the streets.


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## Ruth n Jersey (Mar 20, 2016)

When I was in the seventh grade I walked home from school with two girls older than myself. They told me everything! Before that, if I asked my mom where I came from, she told me I floated down the river on a cabbage leaf. She had a vivid imagination. Thank goodness I didn't tell my older girlfriends that one!


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## jujube (Mar 20, 2016)

In fifth grade, my best friend Sheila told me that parents "did it" and then explained in rather fuzzy terms exactly what "it" was.  I was pretty sure that there was no way that MY parents, especially my mother, "did" anything like that.  She pointed out that there were an awful lot of kids in the house and that obviously _somebody_ was doing "it".  I put it out of my mind; it was just too unbelievable a concept. I figured she must be mistaken somewhere along the line.

Then we had "the talk" in gym class a few years later.  Egads! Sheila was right all along!  It was pretty traumatic.  I'm not even Catholic and I was ready to join a convent.  The gist of "the talk" was that boys couldn't help themselves and that was all they thought about, all the time, 24 hours a day.  They couldn't control themselves. It was up to us girls to keep things on the straight and narrow.  I couldn't look a boy in the eye for days......was he actually thinking about "that"?  And was he thinking about "that" with "me"???  Horrors!

I remember sitting down with my daughter for "the talk" and having her tell me, "Don't worry, Mom, we're getting the Sex Talk next week at school."  Whew.


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## jujube (Mar 20, 2016)

A young boy came home from school one day and asked, "Mom, what is 'sex'?"

His mom had figured out this would happen eventually and had prepared for it with all the right books and information.  She sat him down at the table and proceeded to give him the "talk", using correct terms and descriptions.

He sat listening to the entire lecture and when she was finished, she asked him if he had any questions.

"Just one question, Mom," he replied as he pulled his Little League registration form out of his book bag and pointed to one item on the personal information form, "How am I going to get all of that into this little box?"


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## SifuPhil (Mar 21, 2016)

I looked out the back window one day when I was 3, saw birds and bees.

Easy-peasy. I don't know what everyone is so up-in-arms about ...


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## vickyNightowl (Mar 21, 2016)

SifuPhil said:


> I looked out the back window one day when I was 3, saw birds and bees.
> 
> Easy-peasy. I don't know what everyone is so up-in-arms about ...



Lol


5th grade sex ed class.
I'm still learning.


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## Ameriscot (Mar 21, 2016)

I was 8 and my sister who was 10 told me the details.  I said 'ewww' they have to do that every time they want a baby!  LOLOL.

My mother started telling me about sperm and eggs while she was driving me to the dentist.  I kept asking how the sperm and egg got together and she kept avoiding the question.


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## ossian (Mar 21, 2016)

You know, I cannot remember how I found out about 'where babies came from and how they were put there'. I think that simply evolved from piecing together all the other stuff. I do remember a couple of things quite clearly. The first was when fairly young a schoolmate telling me what girls look like 'down there'. His description was so bad that for several years later I had the totally wrong impression of how they did look. The other was when fairly old and having to ask some class mates about a specific aspect of sex. I was pretty much ridiculed for not yet have tried this and the class appointed the class pervert to describe graphically how to do this particular thing. I dont think I ever lived that down at my school. Fortunately it was a boys' school and my embarrassment was limited to my own gender.


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## Laurie (Mar 21, 2016)

I had a brother five years older than me!  Enough said!


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## ronaldj (Mar 21, 2016)

I didn't get interested in birds until I retired and put up a feeder and now when I have time I sit out back and watch them, as for the bees my dad had hives when I was younger and I also have had bee hives and worked them at different times.  I have been called a bird-brain a few times and I do NOT like bee hive hair doo's....


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## Ralphy1 (Mar 21, 2016)

Just like the caveman, I just knew ar the right time...


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## IKE (Mar 21, 2016)

I'd venture to say that not many boys get 'the talk' we just kinda figure out the basics on our own and then leave it up to you gals to lead us along and teach us the ins and outs later......it's kinda like on the job training.


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## BlunderWoman (Mar 21, 2016)

I had parents you could not even say the word 'sex' in front of. They were completely unapproachable on the topic. I had no brothers and was clueless about male anatomy. ..COMPLETELY. In the fifth grade I heard they did 'it' but I really had no idea what 'it' was. I once heard my step mother uhmnn kinda screaming in their bedroom and pounded on their door yelling " Hey Dad what are you doing to her in there?  Mom are you okay? Want me to pick the lock? !" They told me my dad was tickling her so I said okay & left. Later there was the 7th grade dance at school. I looked a bit older than the other girls. I danced with a kid whose name I still remember. That kid had some hair on his chest. Dang I wonder now how many times he flunked lol. Anyway.. something strange happened while we were dancing that made me feel extremely sorry for him. The next person to ask me to dance was my science teacher. I was dancing with my science teacher and I said " Mr. George I feel so sorry for Mike G. he as some really large abnormal growth at the top of his thighs it was poking me while we were dancing. Maybe his parents should have it removed." My science teacher began to cough and bent over the opposite direction. Then he turned back around and said " Sharon I think that story IS really important. Please make sure you go straight home & tell your parents all about it." That's when I found out.


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## Ralphy1 (Mar 21, 2016)

Today, you might have hooked up!


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## BlunderWoman (Mar 21, 2016)

I just remembered on my uncles farm I had seen a bull mount a cow. I had said to my uncle " Look that cow is giving the bull a piggy back ride!" My uncle just said " Yep, That's what they're doing alright." I had also seen my uncle help a cow birth a calf & he had to roll up his sleeve and stick his arm up to help her out. I just thought animals were different than us & never associated any of what I saw. I also had a small dog named Penny as a kid. My parents were having guests when I ran screaming and crying into the living room saying " That poodle from next door has climbed the fence & he's stuck to Penny! I don't know how they got stuck & I can't get them apart! Help Penny!" YEP.. adults told me nothing..ever


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## Ralphy1 (Mar 21, 2016)

Wow!  All that animal activity around you and you remained an innocent.  What did you think when you found out that humans got stuck?


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## BlunderWoman (Mar 21, 2016)

Ralphy1 said:


> Wow!  All that animal activity around you and you remained an innocent.  What did you think when you found out that humans got stuck?



I thought it was pretty darn gross, nasty, & disgusting.


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## NancyNGA (Mar 21, 2016)

I remember it vividly.  My cousin told me when we were both about 5 years old, including all the details.  But I didn't believe him. Then evidence started mounting, so maybe by 3rd grade I believed it.  My mother never ever said anything to me.


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## jujube (Mar 21, 2016)

I remember my grandmother telling me that she asked her mother what "pregnant" meant.  Her mother slapped her in the face and told her if she wanted to talk "alley" language, she could go out in the alley and do so.   Apparently back then, nobody was "pregnant".....they were "anticipating", "expecting a blessed event", "in an interesting condition" or "waiting for a little visitor from Heaven".  My other grandmother said one of the phrases used was, "well, she's wearing a different kind of dress these days".


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## BlunderWoman (Mar 21, 2016)

jujube said:


> I remember my grandmother telling me that she asked her mother what "pregnant" meant.  Her mother slapped her in the face and told her if she wanted to talk "alley" language, she could go out in the alley and do so.   Apparently back then, nobody was "pregnant".....they were "anticipating", "expecting a blessed event", "in an interesting condition" or "waiting for a little visitor from Heaven".  My other grandmother said one of the phrases used was, "well, she's wearing a different kind of dress these days".


OMG..we've come a long way baby  When Lucy appeared pregnant on I Love Lucy it was a big deal.


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## Ameriscot (Mar 21, 2016)

BlunderWoman said:


> OMG..we've come a long way baby  When Lucy appeared pregnant on I Love Lucy it was a big deal.



But she and Ricky still had to have twin beds.


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## fureverywhere (Mar 21, 2016)

How can we not mention Judy Blume? I want that woman to have sainthood. If you grew up in the early 70's and on Judy gently held your hand on the way through puberty. Even with the internet and everything else future generations will still be reading "Are You There G-d? It's Me Margaret". Oh and then she came out with "Forever". If you read it now it's a sweet innocent introduction to going steady. 

At the time it was published...well I don't think I could have gotten it in the house. I remember standing feverishly in the book section in Sterns reading the whole thing in one afternoon. Now they have twerking and sexting..."Forever" was this boy you love and you know you'll always be together, but getting frisky is kind of weird and messy but it gets better...then one day he breaks your heart, but now you're old enough to move ahead. So tame by today's standards but a classic.


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## Lon (Mar 21, 2016)

Initially from street talk with friends around age 8 or 9 and discovering pornographic pictures under seat cushions at my uncles home at age 10.


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## Falcon (Mar 21, 2016)

Help me out here.  I'm confused by all this talk (above).

I thought everybody knew that the stork delivers all the babies.


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## SifuPhil (Mar 21, 2016)

Falcon said:


> I thought everybody knew that the stork delivers all the babies.


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## BlunderWoman (Mar 21, 2016)

SifuPhil said:


> View attachment 27781



That's very disturbing lol


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## boozercruiser (Mar 21, 2016)

I was aged 15, and this Married 27 year old woman who lived only a few doors down our street in Liverpool, 
took me under her wing. 
Thank you Joan.
You taught me everything I know. 






Think Mrs. Robinson.


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## BlunderWoman (Mar 21, 2016)

boozercruiser said:


> I was aged 15, and this Married 27 year old woman who lived only a few doors down our street in Liverpool,
> took me under her wing. Thank you Joan, you taught me everything I know.


We were talking about how people first learned about sex. Not the first time people HAD sex. But hey thanks for telling us LOL


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## boozercruiser (Mar 21, 2016)

BlunderWoman said:


> We were talking about how people first learned about sex. Not the first time people HAD sex. But hey thanks for telling us LOL



Thank you BlunderWoman.
But the thread as I see it is called...
How did I find find out about the Birds and The Bees?
Well Joan kindly told me all about them.
In a fashion!


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## BlunderWoman (Mar 21, 2016)

boozercruiser said:


> Thank you BlunderWoman.
> But the thread as I see it is called...
> How did I find find out about the Birds and The Bees?
> Well Joan kindly told me all about them.
> In a fashion!


Well I guess so LOL. Isn't it funny how men seem to have such fond memories of the 'friendly' older women & all I can remember teen girls saying when in the same situation is " So and so is a dirty old man!"


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## fureverywhere (Mar 21, 2016)

Thinking with fond memories today about that book "Forever". I was just "crash and burn" through high school, mostly being so timid. I was thinking how different it could have been. I've talked about my junior high crush as the one that got away. But what if he had stayed? Maybe by junior year I would have been brave enough to find out he was a really nice guy. Maybe he could have been the first and the whole story would have been written differently. Something more than just a handsome man who popped up on FaceBook decades later.


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## boozercruiser (Mar 21, 2016)

BlunderWoman said:


> Well I guess so LOL. Isn't it funny how men seem to have such fond memories of the 'friendly' older women & all I can remember teen girls saying when in the same situation is "* So and so is a dirty old man!"*



Tell me about it BW.
Tell me about it.
And now I am!


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## Butterfly (Mar 21, 2016)

I guess I learned on the schoolground.  My mother would have up and died on the spot before she would have had "the talk" with me.  Anything relating to sex simply was not discussed or referred to.  Don't get me wrong, my mother was a wonderful mother, but at the time it simply was not discussed, and I'm sure she got the same from her mother. Dad was worse -- to the end of his life, he even refused to stand in a grocery store line with you if you had pads or tampons in the cart.

Sometimes I wonder how I ever got here at all, with them being so clutched up about it.  I guess maybe it was a generational thing -- they were born in 1914 and 1915 in the Bible belt.


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## fureverywhere (Mar 21, 2016)

I definitely think it was a generational thing, but also politics, religion and everything else. But really even at like 13 I felt worse for my Mom. She probably knew ziltch before marriage. Then again when my Dad was in basic training, she horrified her Mom by traveling with him. If she got caught she would call herself the base floozie. Yup lost my grandparents right there.


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## Guitarist (Mar 22, 2016)

We had a male dog.  Back in those days people did not neuter or spay their dogs, so male dogs had visible bits and pieces and female dogs had puppies.

The local public library had books they kept behind the reference desk and you had to ask for them.  One was about boys, the other was about girls.  You could check them out.  I wish I remembered the titles because they were kinda cute but I don't remember them.  And of course there was Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex But Were Afraid to Ask.


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## SifuPhil (Mar 22, 2016)




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## Shalimar (Mar 22, 2016)

Philly, that explains a lot. Lolol. Poor dear.


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## fureverywhere (Mar 22, 2016)

You just know he's headed for the YMCAlayful:


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## Cookie (Mar 22, 2016)

No sex ed in my day, and everything I learned I found out from friends when I was about 9-10 yrs old.  No one in my family ever spoke of it, ever.  We had a health ed class in junior high, and received the standard pamphlet about the monthly cycle.


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## BlunderWoman (Mar 22, 2016)

And how about weird misinformation given to you by parents or people who were teaching you. My step mother told me that if I let a boy kiss me he would not be able to stop himself from raping me. Yep she told me that. She also suddenly said " Why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free?" That is all she ever said. I had NO CLUE what that cow & milk statement meant. My father told me " all you need to know is that boys are liars If they say they love you..it's a lie."

They made love seem like such a groovy thing hahahahaha


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## SifuPhil (Mar 22, 2016)

Shalimar said:


> Philly, that explains a lot. Lolol. Poor dear.



I never got my Merit Badge, though ...


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## fureverywhere (Mar 22, 2016)

"I say YOUNG MAN there's no need to feel down, I say YOUNG MAN get yourself off the ground...there's a place you can go to be HAPPY..." whawwhawwahwahhh

Something else I remember was jacking (stealing) a copy of "The Happy Hooker". I had absolutely no idea what a call girl was or anything else she was talking about but I knew it was hot stuff. If I could talk to my younger self...no getting frisky is not as big a deal as you think. Do great in school, find a career...boys will be out there forever.


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## Bobw235 (Mar 22, 2016)

I remember going with my father to some "fathers and sons" night where they showed a film about puberty and had a doctor talk to the group about "changes" in boys and girls.  On the way home my dad asked if I had any questions.....he was clearly uncomfortable and so was I.  I learned from my friends and the book "Everything you always wanted to know about sex....but were afraid to ask". Kind of figured stuff out on my own.


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## SifuPhil (Mar 23, 2016)

fureverywhere said:


> "I say YOUNG MAN there's no need to feel down, I say YOUNG MAN get yourself off the ground...there's a place you can go to be HAPPY..." whawwhawwahwahhh


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