Sex Ed Sunday: Yes, No, Maybe So

About 18 months ago our family grew by four paws. As some may remember, in October 2024, a cat found her way into First Universalist and for about two weeks lived as the myth, the legend of First Universalist.

That cat, Taylor the Childless Lady Cat, was adopted by our family (after making certain she wasn’t already chipped or a missing neighborhood cat). While Taylor was not our first cat, she was the youngest cat our kids had interacted with; and because Taylor is young and feisty she immediately became an excellent consent educator with our children.

Picture of adorable Taylor living her best life:

Our older cats basically ignored/kept away from our kids once they became mobile. Taylor was thrilled to have three new playmates with six hands that did not respect boundaries. It’s one thing to have a younger/older sibling yell or hit when they’re not happy with how you’re treating them; it’s another thing when a cat nips at or scratches you, or as my children refer to it, “goes into murder mode.***” Beings of all kinds have ways of trying to communicate Stop doing that, or offering a consequence for violating a boundary. 

When we think about teaching our children, our teens, our adult selves consent, I want us to consider how cats, and really all pets, teach us consent. They cannot talk to us in a vocal language we understand. However, they are excellent at teaching us when touch and attention is welcome and when it is not. Many people can recognize and respect when an animal backs away or lowers their ears or makes a noise that means, “I’m all done! Please stay away!”  However, as humans, we seem to not be able to as readily recognize and respect that when it comes to our fellow humans.

Requiring kids to hug extended family members or commenting on pregnant people’s bodies or touching someone’s hair who has a different texture than your own are so prevalent and so harmful in our society. So come. Let us worship together this Sunday, March 22, for our annual Sex Ed Sunday where we better learn and understand consent, respect, and body boundaries.  

***Disclaimer: please note that “murder mode” is a playful term developed by my family. It is not meant to indicate our cat is actually participating in criminal activity. It simply means that she holds her ground and doesn’t put up with unwanted behavior.