"I'm going to have Josh show you how to shave this weekend," I told my 13 year old son.
"Mom," he muttered.
"You have hair growing above your lip," I explained in a nonchalant tone.
"Mom."
"You are thirteen. Puberty is normal. Anything else you want to talk to me about related to puberty?" I excitedly asked.
"No."
"Oh, would you rather talk to Josh about puberty?"
"No."
"Puberty is exciting! I'll gladly talk to you about it!"
"I have class. Bye."
Puberty was such a taboo topic in my home growing up. I was raised by a fiercely Catholic, farmgirl mom. I knew how to preg-check cows. I knew all about artificial insemination of cattle. I knew how to castrate a bull. However, human puberty was not something that was ever discussed.
Puberty is not a taboo topic in our house. My husband and I openly talk about all things puberty in front of our kids. They might not always appreciate our conversations while eating dinner, but we want them to know that puberty is normal.
Now, I just need to figure out how to survive parenting with the normal hormones that come with puberty.
My former teacher Miss. Davis would suggest we start out the day by saying "Penis,penis,penis! Vagina,vagina,vagina! And then Billy Bob raise his hand for a question.
ReplyDeleteOMG! I love this post. Thanks for the laughs. It's amazing how true this is. While I didn't grow up on my farm, my cousins did - experiencing everything you experienced in your youth. Fortunately, they had a very worldly uncle in the form of my father. He set them straight. Thanks again!
ReplyDeleteI think it's a normal part of puberty to be embarrassed by your parents, right? Great job making puberty a normal part of growing up!
ReplyDeleteNormalizing and living with are two different things. When hormones send things haywire in our house we "ssh" through bared teeth (to make it look funny - and obvious) as "ssh" stands for super silly hormones around here.
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