Really Dad, the birds and the bees? You told Jon about the birds and the bees?
This is what Liz asked me. I had obviously made a mistake only a nine-year-old big sister could know.
What? I said. I didn’t plan it. It just happened.
Jon and I were sitting in his garden with the rabbits nearby. Sam and his significant other were, you know. Jon asked what they were doing. So I told him. It just seemed like the right time.
Well, I hope you didn’t tell him the real word for it, said Liz.
No, I just called it the birds and the bees, I said.
Well, he was singing “the birds and the bees, the birds and the bees” from the back of the car all the way home, said Liz.
My wife later told me that Jon had also shared a bit more detail of his newfound knowledge during the ride home.
But, you know, some moments really are the right ones. And this one was, for sure: just father and son in the garden beside the rabbits and all. I knew Jon could handle it. He’s a mature 7. He’s a man.
Jon looked at me with widening eyes throughout the explanation. Then he said, you mean you and mommy …?
Then his eyes got really big.
He looked at me for another long minute.
Then he said, “But did you know that dogs can’t see? Really, they’re blind. They can’t see any colour.”