I think I was about ten, possibly younger, and having recently heard the word, I asked my dad what "mast**bation" meant.
Under the circumstances I think he handled the question very well as without pause or hesitation he quickly replied "playing with yourself".
I immediately wished I'd never asked the question and felt mortally embarrassed, and that was the end of the conversation on both our sides as neither of us pursued the subject further.
I didn't have a particularly close relationship with my dad and was never entirely comfortable in his company which made the whole experience so much worse.
Coincidentally and equally embarrassingly I had an almost identical exchange with my mum about eight years later. She was quite naive and wasn't given to swearing or foul language. At the time my parents were going through a very messy separation and my dad was being a really nasty piece of work and treating her really badly even though it was his affair which was causing the separation. During one of his emotionally abusive onslaughts against her he used the word "wa*nk". He also was not normally given to swearing so it was a word my mum had never encountered before. After my dad had left the house my mum turned to me in tears and asked me what "w*nk" meant.
At first I was reluctant to give an answer but my mum continued to press the question. I then recalled how my dad had dealt with the same slightly rephrased question about 8 years earlier, so without further pause or hesitation I quickly replied "playing with yourself".
I was in a way grateful to my dad for having previously provided me with the tool to enable me to answer such an awkward and embarrassing question even though he was directly responsible for provoking the question from my mum in the first place.
Under the circumstances I think he handled the question very well as without pause or hesitation he quickly replied "playing with yourself".
I immediately wished I'd never asked the question and felt mortally embarrassed, and that was the end of the conversation on both our sides as neither of us pursued the subject further.
I didn't have a particularly close relationship with my dad and was never entirely comfortable in his company which made the whole experience so much worse.
Coincidentally and equally embarrassingly I had an almost identical exchange with my mum about eight years later. She was quite naive and wasn't given to swearing or foul language. At the time my parents were going through a very messy separation and my dad was being a really nasty piece of work and treating her really badly even though it was his affair which was causing the separation. During one of his emotionally abusive onslaughts against her he used the word "wa*nk". He also was not normally given to swearing so it was a word my mum had never encountered before. After my dad had left the house my mum turned to me in tears and asked me what "w*nk" meant.
At first I was reluctant to give an answer but my mum continued to press the question. I then recalled how my dad had dealt with the same slightly rephrased question about 8 years earlier, so without further pause or hesitation I quickly replied "playing with yourself".
I was in a way grateful to my dad for having previously provided me with the tool to enable me to answer such an awkward and embarrassing question even though he was directly responsible for provoking the question from my mum in the first place.
