My father also explained the menstrual patterns...

My father also explained the menstrual patterns of girls and told me that sometimes their emotional make-up is changed during these times.
He also explained that young girls go through a special emotional change with the onset of menstruation and that one of the cruelest things to do would be to tease them about it.
Thus my for mal sex education from my father during fifth grade stressed the feeling of love and respect for others as well as the physical and technical aspects of a sexual relationship.

I think that this is a very important attitude to instill in a young child. It was an afterthought of our talk that my father mentioned that the sexual act did not always represent a chance of conception and that there were means available to prevent conception.
This fact stressed to me that sexual intercourse had not only a reproductive function but also something that two people in love naturally enjoyed.
The conclusion of this talk was there would probably be other factors concerning sex that would interest me later that he had forgotten to mention, and I was assured that I was always welcome and encouraged to ask either him or Mom and need never feel embarrassed about doing so.

On the way home from shopping my mother said she had forgotten to buy something. I wasn't paying too much attention, but I asked her what she had forgotten. She answered by saying 'Kotex.'
Naturally I asked what it was and both my father and mother looked at each other and said, 'Well, I think it's about time we tell her.'
When we got home Dad showed me a book, diagrams of the female and male reproductive systems. He explained to me what happens during menstruation, how the mother and father cell are joined together, where a baby grows during pregnancy, and how a baby is born.

At first I was shocked to think my parents would do such awful things. The more questions I asked the more I realized it must be a pretty natural process with all the people in the world.
I think that this matterof- fact, down to earth explaining has always made it easier to confide in either of my parents.
This warm companionship I share with my father probably developed early in life when he would come home from work and take time to play with me, look at the things I had made in school, sit down and just talk. He won my confidence.
Because I trusted his opinion I felt free to consult him about various problems or questions which came to mind, especially concerning dating, sex, and boys. I first began dating while in the seventh grade. This is when our 'little talks' began.

There has always been much affection in my family and I learned to show affection freely, but I believe my parents were trying to convey the idea that sex within marriage was sacred and not something to be experimented with outside of a true love relationship.
My mother stressed that intercourse is sacred and that it should be 'saved' until the marriage vows have been spoken. I have always remembered this and always will.

When I was about nine, ten, or eleven my mother talked to me. She said to me, "Tell me everything that you learned in the street, and whatever you learned in the street that wasn't true, I'll correct."
And I told her. Well, I guess 90 percent of the information that I learned in the street was true and 10 percent wasn't. When I reached the age of twelve I experienced my first erection.
I was worried about this because I thought is was abnormal and unclean. Being concerned about the erection I asked my mother about it and to my relief she told me it was normal for these things to happen.