Adult Subjects

Having a toddler and another child on the way, I have begun to think about how I am going to explain certain things to them as they grow and begin to question this world. I remember having these questions or thoughts myself and not understanding why my parents handled it the way they did, whether ignoring the question or just saying, "You will understand when you are older." For instance, one day my sister was playing some songs out of a "pop hits" book on the piano. When she played the theme from "Schindler's List" I just loved it. I looked at the title and asked my parents what that was and if I could see it. I was probably 11 or so at the time. The only response I received was a sarcastic laugh and "You won't be watching that for many years yet." When I asked why, I was stared at with unknowing looks, and then they continued with their day.

I once saw a movie (which, I do not remember) where a little girl asked her parents about sex; they explained it as every woman having a garden and some day a man will pick the flower from her garden, etc., so then this girl grew up and was obsessed with keeping a garden, even long after being married. I know the day will come when my oldest asks his first question that will throw me for a loop. What I will say at that moment, I do not know. All I know is that I want to somehow tell my kids the truth, shelter them from the painful things in life (such as what "Schindler's List" is), and yet not confuse them with my answer. But is that even possible? How much sheltering is too much? How much truth can be told without creating scars?