Mom, I'm so FAT!

This was the first thing my daughter said to me when she was about 12 and I looked at her carefully and noticed she was no longer looking like a twig. So there were some things we needed to talk about.

I recommend some books written by American Girl for growing up. I got these for my daughter and she read them from cover to cover. They are written for 11 to 14 year olds. The explanations are technically on their level without giving any moral decisions. I thought they were great. They are illustrated but not overly graphic.

Also, we have always been openly frank and honest with our children about the changes in their bodies explaining very honestly what is going on. The open lines have since continued when my daughter, now 18, has questions (you will not believe what she hears in school).

I am now coping with the advance degree of puberty and getting into more mature subjects with her. But her trust is what I and her dad have instilled. It was always: "You can ask us anything" and we meant it. We never laughed or made faces, but always treated anything like it was important. And the questions were often asked with her dad present and we discussed things with him there. Men add things sometimes that we as women don't think about.

My mother was awful. I love her, but she told me I would find everything out on my wedding night. They just didn't talk about such things. My mom is 72 now and she is amazed how open and honest ALL of my kids are with us about their bodies. The body is beautiful and we have made sure our children were never ashamed of it no matter what form it came in.

Good Luck!

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