We hate to be the bearers of bad news, especially to parents of babies and toddlers, but, well, there’s a reason they say “Little kids, little problems; big kids, big problems.”
Sure – they’re sleeping through the night now (and sometimes through to mid-afternoon) but the hard parenting isn’t entirely behind you. As they go out into the world more and more on their own, there’s important information they’re going to need, and it’s our job to make sure they have it.
One mom on TikTok really set a high bar for a lot of us with her unique presentation of “The Talk.”
There are a lot of ways you can teach your kids about sex and relationships. Some people don’t like to have “The Talk” so much as casually bring up information over years in order to normalize the subject. Others prefer to make it a more formal sit-down occasion to convey how serious a subject it is and give their child an opportunity to ask questions they might not bring up on their own.
Tamara Mason, who posts on TikTok as @tamaramasn, appears to be at least in part in the latter camp. Her friend recently filmed her giving a slideshow — “Prepared & Presented by Mommy Featuring: Pops + Dr. Auntie Whitney” the first slide reads — to her 14-year-old and it was something special.
With a spread of light snacks in a cozy living room, Mason made a presentation with subjects like “How Do I Know If I Like Someone,” healthy and unhealthy behaviors, “What Can Help You Not Have Sex Too Soon,” STDs and STIs, and more.
Honestly, just super well done.
The comments were full of praise for Mason’s approach.
“This is so smart!” one commenter wrote. “As someone who didn’t grow up in a family where we discussed this, thank you for doing this for your daughter.”
“Teaching from a place of education and self-awareness instead of shame is what will set this next generation apart!” agreed another. “They are going to amaze us all.”
And, indeed, over the course of her responses to comments, Mason’s motivation for this presentation appears to be a genuine desire to not have her daughter feel either left in the dark or shamed about these topics as she was.
And even better news? Mason’s slide is available for parents who think this approach would work for their kids.
“A couple of days ago my best friend posted about my presentation while I was having ‘the talk’ with my 14 y/o,” she wrote in the caption of the video. “Yes, I made an entire slideshow for the moment. Tell me you’re a millennial without telling me you’re a millennial.”
She goes on to explain that she’s received dozens of requests for her presentation, and because she’s “a huge advocate of being honest with future young adults because that is how they learn the most, aside from watching us” she made the presentation gender neutral, whipped up some presenter notes, and made the entire presentation available on Etsy.
“I did all of the work, you just present it to your teen(s) when you’re ready!”
Parenting teens is hard, so it’s nice when someone else makes it just a little bit easier!
