The Talk

I'm surrounded by all things male.  I'm raising a son (and a hubby), my dog and cat are both males, and so this chick often feels outnumbered.  Now, in some ways being the only girl has its advantages.  I get unlimited mirror time, don't have to share my shoes or jewelry, and rarely have to take out the trash.

Yet there are bad points to living in a heavy male household.  With the exception of my neat-freak dog, boys are messy.  Their bathroom habits are sloppy at best; they laugh at stinky smells and sounds and even brag about them (as if it's a point of pride); and I'm convinced they are incapable of placing socks in a hamper.

The most interesting male subject in the house is my pre-teen because he's at that ever changing, steadily growing stage, on a fast track towards puberty.  As I've only had a mere 11 years, I haven't quite had enough opportunity to mold and train him into the hygenic, manner-filled lad I wish him to become.  Our mornings include repeated reminders of brushing teeth, using deoderant, zipping zippers and pulling up pants to hide the horrid plumber crack.  He's learning....but it's a work in progress.  I'd say we're much improved from a few years ago when I actually caught him peeing from the HALL, just to see if the stream would reach all the way into the toilet from that angle.  Boys!

Last night was quite amusing, as I knew he'd spent part of his day at school watching the dreaded puberty video in class.  Now, as a mom of a tween boy, I know I have to tred lightly on topics such as these and pad everything with humor so I was very vague in bringing it up.  I asked in pasing how the video was and he quickly summed it up with one word, "AWKWARD!"  When I tried to continue the conversation, any question I attempted was stopped short with another, "Awkward!"  Since I could see him trying to shrink behind his hair or melt into the couch, I decided to leave it for dad but left him with the knowledge that he could surely come to me with questions, if he had any later.  Yeah, I know, I don't see that happening.  Hmmm, maybe this is yet another perk to being the only girl in the house!