Welcome to the House of Hormones

Ouch! I fear the day when we have two (and then three!) women's hormones blowing a hole through our family harmony. (I expect early menopause myself, based on my family history. I have been fairly irregular since DD3 was born -- yes, the 3-week cycle sucks!)

On the plus side, I look forward to reading about the lovely ways you usher Josie into womanhood in the years to come.

Shaun
www.homeschoolblogger.com/shaunms

I think my DD10 is likely to be quite a bit later, which is kinda comforting for me and my fantasy world because it means I can ignore the nasty reality world a bit longer. And DD gets to pretend she's just one of the lads for a few more years.

stock up on the chocolate and avoid any tough decisions for a few years Lynn - you can ride this wave because you've ridden far worse.

Kerri.

My DD9 is a real "joy" to be around lately. I've actually started marking on a calender her emotional meltdowns in case there is a pattern to it. If so, well, at least I can be prepared that week, right?

No bumps yet, but she has had to use deodorant for a couple years now.

I also know I'll be talking to her about S-E-X sooner than I had planned, and sooner than I was told about it. After discovering two women not much older than me have now become grandparents, I am absolutly paranoid! True, their daughters were in high school. But I guess it's never too soon anymore.

And I guess I'll be starting up my cycle in a few months, if I can ever get this baby weaned. I'll miss these carefree months on end of no Aunt Flo visiting.

At least I gave my husband 2 sons to even up the household. They can all go hunting on those weeks, right? LOL!

A little boy was at the park with his father when they happened upon a couple of dogs doing what doggies do....
"Dad? What are they doing?" asked the little boy.
"Well, son," replied the father, "They're making puppies."
"Oh, O-kay." replied the boy and they went on their way.

A few weeks later the little boy interrupted his parents (doing what parents do) and asked,
"Dad? What're you guys doing?"
"Well son," replied the father, "We're making a baby."

The little boy contemplated this for a minute and said,
"Could you turn her over? I'd rather have a puppy!"

sorry!

Jenny...I charted DD16's emotional days for a couple of years, too. It really helped BOTH of us to know what was going on!

DD11.5 is "budding," now, and will be joining the ranks of women sometime this year I expect! None of us suffer terribly with any of it. DD16 and I have one "weepy" day each, but neither of us get "crabby" or mean. I haven't noticed much in the way of roller-coaster emotions from DD11.5 yet...but she's an amazingly cheerful, constant bundle of excitement so I might have missed it as just a "less than usual" day!

We need some special recognition, I think...women raising women...it's a blessing...but not an easy one!
Love to all,
Lenora

Seems odd, but I do know of girls in Jr. High finding themselves with child. uggg. I swore my children and I would talk more!! So glad to find women who are not pushing the issue aside. My mom was a nurse in a small town where you didn't "talk about that." And a girl came in to her office with nausea. My mom had to be the one to break it to the girl that she was pregnant, and that they should call her parents. BUT, the girl protested, saying that her "friends" had told her that unless you swallowed his urine, it wouldn't be a baby, and she'd never do that, so my mom JUST HAD to be wrong. I felt for the girl, really. I wish parents would get to their children before other peers do.

Jillian

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

Well, last night was the unexpected talk about risks of SIDS and teen parenting. A girl in the senior class at our school (who has a cousin in DD9's class) lost her 4 month old baby over the weekend to SIDS. It also happens to be the topic DH is studying in his EMT course he is taking for the volunteer fire dept.

Oh, Lenora, that was a HORRIBLE joke!!! LOL!!!!!!

My goal in life right now and for the next 18 years is to keep my four kids so busy in everything they can, they won't have TIME to think about doing things to get them knocked up (the boys and the girls)! I'll have time to rest after I get them all in college safe and sound. Also to create an environment so that my kids won't want to go somewhere else, but will want to bring their friends over here. I'm sure that's easier said than done. Some insight from my MIL will be helpful. She was successful in that endevor. In fact, my SILs husband hung around their house from age 15 when he got his license and truck until they got married at age 21. FIL tried to claim in on their taxes (LOL! Just kidding!) and MIL said she couldn't throw out the dishwater without hitting him. LOL! He spent every Thanksgiving, Christmas, and went to every family reunion with them since Jr. High.

I have already started with sports. Soccer in the fall, basketball in winter, baseball/softball in spring, 4-H year round. And when DD9 hits 7th grade (she is in 4th now), she will play volleyball, basketball, cheer and run track for our school. 6am practices means no late nights out. Same for the boys (but football except volleyball). And FFA starts in 8th grade. Plus working on the farm. That should keep them busy. LOL!