The birds and the bees...

[Sundae]

Mum went through it all with my sister after watching a children's TV programme where a boy was ridiculed for saying"public hair" instead of "pubic hair". My sister was about to have formal sex education at school and I guess Mum didn't want her to feel embarrassed.

I'm a year and a half younger and resented the fact that my sister got a "special" talk and I didn't, so I got mine as well and then wished I hadn't - I thought it was "icky" too.

I would have been about 10.

Mum even got some condoms to show us because she was worried that we might see one used as a balloon or a waterbomb some time and not know what it was. It's funny looking back on it - I got my sex education because Mum was terrified of us being embarrassed....!

The sex education we had at age 11 at our (Catholic) school was pretty comprehensive from what I remember. I'm sure the idea of saving yourself for marriage was pushed, but we'd grown up with that ideal anyway. I was still 4 or 5 years from puberty so it wasn't something I needed to be told. We certainly had group conversations about things ike foreplay and contraception though.