8 year old asking about sex

[MagicKingdomDizzy]

Last night out of the blue my 8 year old son asked me what sex was. It turned out he heard the word at school. I was surprised and on the spot, so I just sort of fudged a really vague answer about it being something that people do when they love eachother.

I discussed it with my husband when he got home, and he was of the opinion that we should probably have 'The Talk' with him and explain factually what sex is. I'm torn really, as he still seems quite young for this kind of information.

I don't actually remember my parents having that kind of talk with me, I just found out about it through magazines, movies and school sex ed.

Please can I ask how you went about having this conversation with your child and if 8 is too young? Any resources I can look at for guidance?

Honest and factual answers op. You don’t need to give more information than he’s asking for. Man has sperm and woman has egg might be enough for now if he doesn’t ask how the sperm gets to the egg.

Definitely do the “some parents might not have told their children about this yet” speech. I didn’t, dd passed her knowledge on to her best friend and best friends mum went nuts. She threatened me with the police and social services for stealing her daughters innocence

A talk was had tonight, all went well. I asked if he had any questions afterwards....
"Yes," He said. "Can I play Minecraft now?"

Got to love eight year olds!

I have ordered the Usborne book recommended.

Thanks to you all for your advice, I know it seemed like a silly question, but you've all helped hugely!