The Times, They are a'Changin' !

I got a lop-sided grin on my face this evening as I read Christy's blog which refers to her daughter's inevitable transformation from girl to woman, and the angst it can bring out in us mothers.

I felt a little like an older, wiser woman since I've already had a year or so of digesting the whole concept of my bras sharing the same washing machine as my daughter's.

Still, it amazes me how times can change in a generation or two. When I was a young girl, my mother never gave me "the talk". I relied on a booklet my worldly friend brought to school, and to the helpful tidbits that my big sisters offered me. What a contrast to the kids who frequent my kitchen table.

Just today, over fried egg sandwhiches and fruit salad, my daughter came running down the stairs and clunked this book on the table while I shared my lunch with her auntie, a couple of my kids, (including brothers), and a neighbor girl. She laughed outrageously in grade six style and threw the book open to the diagram of the man and the woman complete with all the mysterious parts. My sister and I reacted in an understated way (none of what was on the picture was shocking to us!!) and I commented to all the kids around my table- "Yup, there they are-- all the bits and parts that make up different sorts of human bodies. Yup, that's part of the story of where babies come from." No one stopped chewing their sandwhiches, or turned any of the various shades of purple that I would have seen in my day and age if that dirty little word "pregnant" had slipped from someone's lips. We may as well have been discussing what movie to rent at the local Co-op as Jane's little friend wiped some mayonnaise off her lip and offered-

"We have a book at home- know what it shows how to do? It shows how to use a tampon!"