My mom talked to me a lot about s-e-x and boys and pregnancy and diseases and more about boys, sometimes it was honestly too much for me. But she kept talking to me about it all through puberty and high school. And that I think is what gave me the tools to know myself enough to say "no".

I didn't say "no" because my church told me to, or because my parents told me to, or my friends told me to (most of my friends were of the "love waits" variety). I said "no" because I knew I wasn't ready and it wasn't right--the right thing, time, place, or person. If I hadn't been well armed I could have gotten in serious trouble specifically when I was fifteen and again when I was seventeen, but I knew how and why to say "no". And it wasn't because I wasn't interested in boys, I had the rampant hormones/boy crazy lust going on, I just had a lucky combination of knowing myself well enough and being afraid of boys/men--which is a whole other topic.

Having "the talk" is just the start. You have to keep having "talks" just as Lynn is doing in order to keep up with their busy little minds and rampaging hormones.

And you have to put in the same amount of effort for boys as you do girls, IMO. I think that my mom was so worried about me getting taken advantage of that she ended up talking to me more than my older brother, who got a daughter as a high school graduation present.

Hormonally, when I was a teenager there'd be one day where I was a complete "B" then the rest was just being a little weepy. Mom could always tell when I was about to start.

Women are so different--there's more genetic variation among women than men--it's almost impossible to predict how each woman is going to express the hormonal surges. One lady I knew had the PMS "sleepies", she had to take naps. You never know.

My DNiece was about Josie's age when she started pre-puberty. At least you have two years of gradual ramping up before the full shebang, Lynn. It's a blip on the radar slowly moving towards you, you have time to prepare!

Anhata
www.familynaturally.com
Your Family's General Store, Naturally