To him it is simply a question for satisfying his momentary
curiosity. Later on, when the child has become aware of the idea of
sex, he is not likely to ask his mother embarrassing questions, or,
if he should ask them, the situation would be equally embarrassing
to both--unless you have in the meanwhile kept in close sympathy
with your children, and they feel that they can come to you with any
question and be answered frankly. And the way to keep them in close
sympathy is by meeting frankly every question as it arises. It is
not necessary to answer every question by telling everything you
know; it is necessary merely to tell enough to satisfy the child's
immediate need. Not only, then, does your frank answer tend to keep
the child in touch with the mother, but you protect him in this
manner against going for his information to sources that are
frequently contaminating. The information that boys and girls give
one another about sex matters is often something appalling, not only
in its distance from the truth, but in the amount of filth with
which it is encrusted. It is the desire to keep his mind clean,
then, that should prompt the mother to tell her child what he wants
to know when he wants to know it. A third consideration is found in
the fact that many children, when they do not receive satisfactory
answers to their queries, will reflect and brood about the subject
to a degree that becomes morbid. This is especially likely to happen
where the subject of the child's inquiry is treated as though it
were an improper or a wicked one to speak about, so that the child
dares not ask others for enlightenment.

That the early answering of the child's questions may offset both
morbid curiosity and the danger of resorting to filthy sources of
information is illustrated by the story of a seven-year-old boy who
was invited by an older boy to come to the wood-shed for the purpose