Ready or Not...

Kyle and I tend to have our most meaningful conversations at bedtime. It's here that I catch a glimpse of what's going through my little guy's head and what really matters the most. And sometimes it catches me off guard.

It happened during our teeth-brushing routine last night. As he finished gargling and slurping, he turned to me in all seriousness and said, "I'm sorry I hurt your tummy, Mom."

Me: "What? When did you hurt my tummy?"

Kyle: "When I was a baby. I'm sorry I hurt your tummy when I came out of you."

Looking back, I probably should've left it at that point. But no. Instead I said, "You didn't hurt my tummy."

Kyle: "But I'm sorry they had to cut your tummy open when I came out."

Ruth: "They didn't cut my tummy open."

And here comes the golden question:

Kyle: "Then how did I come out?"

And here's when there was a long p-a-u-s-e and I weakly said, " Ummm, magic?"

Magic?!?!? Come on, Ruth! You can do better than that! I couldn't help it. I froze! I wasn't the slightest big ready to get into that whole conversation. And believe me, my guy wouldn't have accepted a one-sentence explanation. I would've been bombarded with questions.

I've heard that parents need to be prepared for that "birds & the bees" conversation a whole lot earlier these days. And it looks like I've received an "F" in preparation. So does anybody have any advice? A good "birds & the bees" book? Anybody, anybody??