The Aches and Pains of Parenthood

Being a public health nurse who discusses the reproductive system in great detail daily, you would think having a simple talk with my daughter about the changes into womanhood would be easy.

Ha! We are talking about my daughter now and not someone else's. I've taught both of my children about the anatomical makeup of boys and girls and even have had general discussions about how babies are created and born.

Jessalyn totally gets how babies are made, Parker thankfully is not quite there yet. I've always been open and frank with my kids. I wanted to be the first one to tell them the truth before they got a crash course on the playground or worse yet it the back of some car. For me, that was a piece of cake.

Recently, however, Jessalyn is getting closer to impending puberty and I would hate for her to have the shock of the unexpected "mark of womanhood" at school. I browsed around Barnes and Noble and found The Care and Keeping of You. The book outlines all aspects of girls from how to take care of your hair to finding the best bra. The authors spell out hard-to-talk-about issues in a very simplistic format. The book is right on Jessalyn's reading level and she loves the "tips" the authors include.

She has read through most of it on her own and we've read together about some of the "more important parts". I just love the book and would highly recommend it for any girl ages 7-11 years. Older girls may find the book childish. I have a book I recommend for them, Teen Survival Guide. I give a copy to girls 12-16 at work.

I keep having flashes of when I was in third grade and Judy Blume taught me all about the birds and the bees in Are You There, God? It's Me Margaret. You thirty something females remember that classic line, "I must, I must, I must increase my ....." Craziness. So, hopefully Jessalyn can be the one to set her little girl friends straight when they have those giggly slumber party conversations. In fact, she proudly announced to me last night that she will prefer antiperspirant to deodorant and her feminine hygiene preference. Whoa, I have a long 10 years ahead of me.