I'd been thinking about it - in an abstract sort of way - figuring I should probably get around to doing that soon, but, eh. Not yet. And then a note came home from school saying that the 4th grade was going to be watching "the video" about growing up and hygiene and puberty.
Well, then. I guess I better talk to her. Thanks so much, Sweetie's elementary school, for forcing the subject.
At any rate, I didn't write about this primarily as a means to keep some privacy on this for Sweetie. (aannnnddd... there goes that privacy.) Suffice it to say the talk went waaaayyyy better than I imagined it could/would have, I had a fantastic book to share with her on the subject, she learned beyond the point that she "needed" to for the school video, Sweetie showed some genuine interest in the miracle and science of everything, and she was not/has not been embarrassed to talk about or ask questions of both Hubby and I ever since.
Phew!
In the meantime, the only "changing bodies" I've noticed going on around here is my own. Good, bad, and indifferent.
I went to McDonalds a few weeks back twice within a relatively short span of time. And immediately after both trips? I felt awful. So blah and bloated and just plain gross. I'd been to McDonalds plenty of times before! Never had I felt like this. But these two trips proved it loud and clear - crappy food makes me feel crappy, even if it never did before. No more McDonalds, or the like, for me.
I have also always started my day with a cup of tea. I'm not a coffee drinker (unless you consider mochas true coffee.) Tea is my thing. I can't go on with my day without it. Yet, a couple months back I realized that, day after day after day, after having my morning tea, I was feeling buzzed. I don't like feeling caffeine buzzed. Makes me feel sick. But, there it was. Every day, all of a sudden, after having tea every morning for years, I was feeling the ill-effects of the caffeine. I couldn't even finish the cup, I felt so yucky. Luckily, after telling this to Hubby, he reminded me how to "decaffeinate" my regular tea (I hate the taste of decaffeinated teas and herbal teas) by letting it steep for 20 - 30 seconds, pouring out that tea, then pouring my actual cup of tea from there. Brilliant! This works, and so I can now, again, drink my morning tea without feeling sick.
Another change that I've notice of late is that I'm no longer experiencing night sweats, as I have for the last couple years or so every night. Sure, I still have them every once in awhile. But nowhere near as regularly as before. Yay for this lovely change!
All these bodily changes for me I can attest, I think, to the CoQ10 I've been taking since shortly after my physical earlier this year. I have also been wearing, for the last month or so, an amber necklace. Mostly, if you know about amber necklaces at all, you probably have heard of them for babies and the healing properties they afford them while teething. But, I wanted to try it for myself to see if it could offer me any relief from my bodily aches and/or the night sweats issue, and/or in any other way. Of course, because I started the CoQ10 and wearing the necklace within roughly the same time period, I can't know which is working for me in what way. And, I guess I don't really care. In the end, I am seeing some changes, all of which are forcing me to live a more healthy lifestyle. And this is a good thing!
As for Sweetie... you know what I've noticed since having "the talk" with her? Sweetie has been both much more imaginative (regressing?) and more her own person (progressing.) Neither of which has anything, really, to do with "the talk" or "the book," of course. But, now that she knows some of these secrets of growing up, now that she has this milestone information under her belt, it is fascinating to watch how she's growing, processing, and behaving as she edges closer and closer to actually experiencing this new phase in life that, at this point, she only has book knowledge of.
She's pretending a lot more. Or maybe I'm just noticing it more? And in her pretend play, it's so interesting to me to see how she adapts real situations to her imaginative worlds.
She goes to work with me and my boss comes in, putting her purse down on the empty chair at her desk. My boss leaves the room, Sweetie comes back in and sees the purse there. Sweetie is offended that the purse has now crushed her friend! (A minute later) "Well, she didn't get crushed. She got up just before the purse was put down. (Another minute later) "And she couldn't be crushed anyway! She's not tiny... she's as big as I am!" (Eye roll like "Of course she is!")
She and I are in the car together and she tells me who all is in the car with us. Three other girls and two boys and four cats. Some of them are in the back seat, some of them are in the trunk. The cats are on the girls laps. She has names for everyone. One of her friends is Matilda - the Matilda! - so she's not actually in the car, but flying along outside the car, because she's magical like that. And the boys are riding motorcycles in front of us, and not in the trunk. Sweetie doesn't know why they have motorcycles - they just do. (Eye roll like, "Boys! Who knows why they do what they do!)
I could offer up so many more examples, but you get the point. Sweetie has a whole world going on in her imagination (I'm totally not surprised by this) and turns things over in her mind so much and so well in order to make them all fit real situations as best they can (still not surprising me - just impressing me with her ability to do this and her apparent need to not only do it, but share her world and the adjustments with me. Like it's important that I know things are all working out alright with her "friends" when at first they appeared to be in some tricky situations.)
Good for you, Sweetie. You may not know it, but you're actually showing me that you'd know how to handle some pretty tricky situations too, if even you found yourself in some. You're always thinking, and that's a great thing!
So... more imaginary friends than I've ever been aware of before = regressing? Eh - maybe not. Maybe not at all. I think you're just working out some potentially real life situations in your elaborate pretend world before you get around to experiencing comparative situations in your own life. Not that being crushed by a purse or deciding between riding in the back seat, in the trunk, or on a motorcycle are anything you'll ever have to worry about yourself. But, you know. You're thinking, adjusting, fixing, and dealing with the situation at hand within your playing, which will help you in real life with so many things. Good for you!
Sweetie is also, like I said, establishing herself more and more as her own person these days. Not in any huge display or anything. But simple little things.
I'm excited to hear on the radio, then find a video, of a song I heard for the first time at Sweetie's end-of-year talent show. A song I thought was just a simple playground song and game with cups. But now I know it's really a thing. I love the song and think the trick with the cups is cool, so I bring some cups home and work with Sweetie for a bit to learn. I mention on Facebook that Sweetie and I are going to learn this. I keep going back to it when we have some time. Aaannnddd... Sweetie finally tells me she's really not as interested in learning this as I am.
Sweetie wants to play a game with me. We usually have some difficulty deciding on a game we both enjoy. Then I remember one that we've played before. Let's play that! Aaannnddd... she doesn't like that game as much as I think she does.
I want to watch TV. It's easier for Sweetie and I to watch TV together when Daddy's not around. We can watch the silly reality competition shows that he doesn't like. Dancing with the Stars, So You Think You Can Dance, The Voice... whatever. So I pull up (on Hulu) one of my favorites - So You Think You Can Dance - because I know she and I both love this! Aaannnddd... no. Sweetie, in fact, does not like that show as much as I think she does. Not really at all, in fact.
What?! Who are you? What have you done with my Sweetie! My Sweetie loves all these things, just like I do! What's going on here?!
Huh. What's going on here, is Sweetie learning to assert herself more, and make her own decisions more on what is good and fun, cool and enjoyable to her, regardless of what I and Hubby like. Sweetie is growing up.
I should have been a psychologist.
Changes, they are a-happenin' all around. For me and her. With more changes to come! Fun, fun. But, it's all good. We are both strong females ready for whatever this world has to offer us. Ready for the next stage of life.
We can do it.
Bring it on!
