The Birds and the Bees, and the Bullfrog

I finally bought this book for the boys, about eggs, semen and what they can create. It also has other answers to possible questions they may be having. I learned at last year's Live and Learn Unschooling Conference, from what the teens had relayed in a round table discussion with Diana, that the kids really preferred having the books to a one-on-one sex talk with their parents. They also said that they were more comfortable talking to an adult friend that they trusted, about any questions they may have about sex, rather than to their parents. This makes sense to me. It doesn't mean that they aren't well-adjusted or trusting of their parents. It's just such a heated topic.

I left the book in the car and then in their room and saw that they both read it often within the first few days. I asked Gillen how it was and he said that he was really surprised by the great number of eggs that there are in women. He was so comfortable talking about this and about other things he'd learned. I remember being excruciatingly embarrassed when I had to ask my mom to finally get me a bra, let alone questions about sex. Maybe it is that he is growing up in nature, seeing the birds , the bees, the ducks and the turkeys breeding all the time. Plus, we never had "Animal Planet".

Speaking of the birds and the bees, we have lots of both brightening our world. Our mayor found out that we were looking to get more bees and took Nicolas and Gillen to his friend's house last night where there was a swarm of them. They easily transferred the bees to an empty hive. I figured that they'd bring it to the farm but they brought it here, to our back yard! I am so excited. I will be doing lots of research in order to finally have our own honey. We've had hives at the farm for a year but haven't given them enough attention and we lost one of the queens.

Seems the mayor likes bees better than he does squirrels. Remember, this is the same guy who offered to pay Gillen to shoot squirrels in his back yard.

Today, we watched the mayor and his wife drive right through our backyard until they were a few feet from the hives. They just stayed in their big old red car, silently watching the hive through the windshield, while we watched the Mayor and his wife through their side windows. They finally saw us and were shaken from their hypnotized bee reverie.

It's Spring. Down here, we're all a bit awed by the sudden signs of so much new life, by the many mating calls, and by all the pollen.



My favorite backyard animal: