Birds and Bees
BIRDS AND BEES – May 14, 2025 – Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA
Seven-year-old Grace Ann Fillmore bounced from the front door into the kitchen. Her parents, Raylene and Cole, sat at the kitchen’s granite covered island, expecting her. Raylene set out a packaged piece of string cheese and an apple sauce pouch for Grace Ann and her two younger brothers.
“How was your day?” Raylene asked as Grace Ann tore into the cheese packet.
“Good,” Grace Ann answered automatically before chomping the cheese. Her two permanent front teeth had filled in half of the gap left when her baby teeth fell out.
“Who did you sit by on the bus?” Cole asked.
“Chloe.”
“Anyone get in trouble today?”
“No, but Trevor Carter pulled down the window when he wasn’t supposed to. He was sitting right behind me. He said he was going to learn about birds and bees with his parents and then tell us.”
Raylene dropped the string cheese package she was opening for one of her boys. Cole’s eyes shot open like someone stabbed him with a fork.
“What did you say Trevor is learning about?” Raylene asked carefully.
“Birds and bees.” Grace Ann looked up at her stunned parents and asked, “Is something wrong?”
“And Trevor said he’s going to tell you about them?” Cole asked in a serious voice.
“He’s going to tell everyone.”
Grace Ann’s parents exchanged panicked expressions before her mom said, “Honey, can you take your cheese and your brothers to your room while I have a talk with your daddy?”
“Why, are you mad about something?” Grace Ann asked with wide eyes.
“No. Just take the boys and play in your room for a minute.”
Grace Ann obediently gathered her little brothers and led them into her room carrying their apple sauce packets.
“Who is this Trevor kid?” Cole asked as soon as Grace Ann was out of earshot. “How old is he? How does he know our daughter?”
“They’re in the same class. He rides the same bus,” Raylene answered in a worried tone.
“Then he’s seven-years-old too? Don’t you think that’s way too young for the birds and bees talk?”
“Yes. Of course, I do.”
“I mean, she’s still playing with dolls. The most grown-up thing she’s ever seen is probably that Pixar movie Inside Out. She’s not ready for whatever Trevor’s gonna say.”
“I don’t blame Trevor. I blame his parents.”
“Yeah, what’s up with that? Who are these people?”
“I see his mom at school and the park sometimes. They live one street over.” Raylene pointed out the door and toward the middle of their suburban neighborhood. She and Cole had chosen the community because the houses were newly built and filled with young families who seemed to have the same all-American values.
Cole squinted toward the nearby neighborhood park and asked, “Where did Trevor’s family come from before they moved here?”
“Somewhere in the Northeast, I think.”
“This is Oklahoma. Maybe it sounds a little old-fashioned to some people, but we believe in family values. Why can’t we let our kids grow up slowly without throwing all this adult stuff at them?”
“Right. It’s not like I’m a prude or anything, but I’m not ready for the conversation and I know Grace Ann isn’t either.”
“It’s not like we’re living in Sweden or Canada.”
“Canada?”
“I was thinking of the liberal, French-speaking part of Canada.”
“Right. So what do we do?”
Cole thought for a few seconds before saying, “How about calling Trevor’s parents and convincing them not to say anything to him?”
Raylene gave her husband a pained look. “That doesn’t sound like a fun conversation. And it’s probably too late. I’ll bet they’re talking with Trevor right now.”
“Then maybe we tell Grace Ann to stay away from him. Don’t listen to anything he says.”
“I don’t think that’ll be possible unless we pull her out of school. If we tell her not to listen to Trevor, it’ll make her more curious about what he has to say.”
“Well, we can’t do nothing, unless you want this Trevor kid teaching Grace Ann all about. . . you know. It’s bound to fill up her head with bad ideas and weird perspectives. I think you’ve got to talk to her and explain things, almost like a preemptive strike.”
“Why don’t you do it?”
“It’s better for moms to talk to their daughters. You can keep it high level. Stuff about what happens when mommies and daddies love each other and where babies come from.”
Raylene repeated, “When mommies and daddies love each other,” and rolled her eyes. “Sounds so corny.”
“Then make it sound less corny.”
“Easy for you to say.”
For the next ten minutes, Raylene talked herself in and out of having the conversation with Grace Ann. She finally said with a sigh, “I guess it has to be done and I might as well get it over with.”
After slowly shuffling to Grace Ann’s room, Raylene found her daughter sitting on the floor next to her play kitchen. She served imaginary plates of food to her brothers and one of her dolls and encouraged them to eat it all up. Raylene looked around at the room decorated innocently in pink and white. A dollhouse and stuffed animal collection filled up one of the room’s corners.
“I hate to interrupt,” Raylene announced, “But can you boys go find your dad so I can talk to Grace Ann?”
The two little boys wanted to know why they had to leave. Raylene eventually convinced them that Daddy might have a treat for them. They stumbled and toddled away and Raylene shut the door behind them. She sat on her daughter’s bed while Grace Ann continued playing with her kitchen set.
“What do you want to talk about?” Grace Ann asked with her eyes looking especially large and the freckles on her nose looking especially adorable.
Raylene struggled with how to begin. She felt like she was walking down a flight of stairs in the dark to a room filled with booby traps. Her mind stayed blank.
“Mom, are you okay?”
Raylene said the first thing that popped into her head. “When mommies and daddies love each other . . .” She stopped herself and tried again. “Remember when I had your little brother in my tummy and you asked how he got there?”
“You said the hospital. That’s where they take babies out and how they get in.”
“Is that what I said? Well, it’s kinda like that. But, you know, it’s a little more complicated. Boys and girls have different body parts. That has something to do with making babies.”
Grace Ann put down the plastic dish and spoon she was holding and stared more intently at her mother. Something resembling dread appeared on both their faces.
“I’m not sure how to tell you about this,” Raylene added. “It’s kind of hard to say.”
“Why do you have to tell me?” Grace Ann asked as if she was about to get a shot.
“Well, Trevor’s talk about birds and bees. You see, it means something different than actual birds and bees.”
“It does?”
“Yes. It’s about bodies and boys and girls and different body parts and where babies come from.”
“Don’t you have to go somewhere special to learn about it?”
“No. You can learn about it anywhere.”
“Then why does Trevor have to go somewhere?”
“What do you mean?”
“He says he’s going to a place where birds live. I think it’s called an avery or aviary. And they also have a beehive there. Our teacher wants him to tell us all about it and she said maybe the whole class can go. But I thought he was going to tell us about real birds and bees and not about where babies come from.”
Raylene flushed red and held her hands in front of her face attempting to shield her embarrassment.
“What’s wrong, Mom?”
“I didn’t know about the aviary. I was a little confused. I want you to forget everything we just talked about. Put it out of your mind. We’ll talk about it when you’re older, okay?”
“Why?”
“It’s just not the right time. I made a mistake and jumped the gun.”
“What does that mean?”
“When someone is waiting for a race and they start running before the starting gun. Oh, never mind. Can you please just forget what I said and not tell anyone else about it?”
“I think so.”
“It’s really important that we keep it to ourselves until later. Okay?”
“Okay.”
“Now, how about we play with your kitchen, just the two of us? What kind of food are you making?”
Grace Ann acted happy to change the subject and to have her mother’s undivided attention. After twenty minutes of pretend cooking, Raylene decided to quiz her daughter before departing.
“That was fun. Now remember, who are you going to tell about our private birds and bees talk?”
“Umm. Nobody?”
“That’s right. It’s just between us. No need to tell anyone else.”
Raylene retreated from the room feeling exhausted. She rushed to tell Cole about her embarrassing conversation. She whispered in his ear so their young sons would not overhear.
“We jumped the gun. Turns out Trevor’s going to an aviary. It also has bees. Real birds and bees.”
Cole giggled at the news and Raylene punched him in the arm before continuing to whisper. “I found out about that after our ‘mommies and daddies love each other’ talk.”
Cole cringed and asked, “How far into the talk did you get?”
“Luckily, not very far. I think she was too surprised for it to sink in. I told her to forget it and not to tell anyone else.”
“You think she’ll stay quiet?”
“Yeah, I think we’re okay. I handled it pretty well, if I do say so myself.”
With each passing hour, Raylene worried less and less about the conversation. By the next day, she was almost chuckling to herself about it. Then she got a call after Grace Ann returned home from school. Chloe’s mom was on the phone, the same Chloe who usually sat by Grace Ann on the bus.
“Chloe’s been telling me about what she learned from Grace Ann today,” said a very upset voice. “Apparently, you’ve had the birds and bees talk with your daughter. I don’t get it. She’s only seven. This isn’t Sweden. Or Canada.”
Raylene blushed all over again. “Wait! It’s not what you think!”
Please remember to subscribe for weekly reminders about new stories. You can subscribe by clicking here: Subscribe. You can also follow new content on any Podcast platform or on YouTube. For the full list of stories, return Home.