The "Talk"

I heard something on the radio that made me feel a little angry yesterday. A man was talking about the discussion he has with any boy who dates his daughter. You know, where a girl's father sits down with the guy she is dating and has a "talk." In this case, the person speaking said that while his daughter is not a possession, he is to steward her until she becomes an adult. As someone created in God's image, his daughter is someone precious that any guy should feel honored to spend time with, someone who should protected and treated with respect.

I turned the channel fairly quickly. While I agree that all people are made in God's image and, as such, should be treated with dignity and respect, I am annoyed that it is only guys who receive the "talk." As the mother of two sons, I am equally concerned that the girls they date treat them well. Why is it that we only talk with guys? Do girls hold no responsibility for what happens on a date?

When our sons are old enough to date (a long, long time from now), I would like to meet the girls they date and give them my own little talk. I might start with, "I love my son and if you do anything to hurt I will rip out your..."

Well, maybe that's a little extreme. But I would like to talk about dressing modestly and helping our son focus on her inner beauty more than her physical beauty. I would like to tell her that we have taught our son that no means no and we expect her to follow the same rule. I would like to tell her that my son is a wonderful creation of God, just as she herself is, and that they should treat each other with respect and consideration. And I would let her know that they are both mutually responsible for their actions when they are together.

Okay, so my "talk" isn't perfect yet. That's okay. I have many more years to work on it (I hope! Josiah has been talking a little about one of the girls in his kindergarten class).

~~~~~

P.S. During the next two weeks I will be reading a book in our son's kindergarten class, going to our college's homecoming and traveling to Germany for a fun-filled week of meeting with industry colleagues. I probably won't have much time to blog...