I am expecting a baby girl in the fall. I am thrilled to be expecting another baby following some fertility struggles after my first child.
Knowing my second child will be a girl has raised some anxieties that I want perspective on. For the most part these are related to fears around sexual abuse/assault.
My older child is a boy, he will be about 4.5 when sister is born. He is the light of my life, he is such a sweet boy, I don’t mean for my anxieties to be any reflection of his character. It’s a me problem + the world we live in.
When I was growing up, I had several uncomfortable experiences with neighborhood boys, friends, and children I didn’t know. Asking me to take off my clothes, to “swim around and touch each other”, to kiss and rub bodies, etc. I also had the experience several times of waking up to find my younger brother in my bed trying to lift my pajamas and peek at my body. In my teens, my step brother snuck into my bed and tried to engage in activities.
So I’m really just wondering.. how can I best go about trying to protect my girl from things like this. I knew it was wrong growing up, I knew I could tell my mom but I never did, and when I told my family about my step brother really nothing was done about it (not allowed to install a lock on my bedroom door).
Are these experiences super common, like I imagine? Or am I worrying too much?