I am a “boy mom” and honestly, I laugh when my grown sons tell me that for the longest time, they did not know that girls pooped or even “farted”. Although, this is funny, I also wonder if I had failed them by not letting them in on all these bodily functions that women do that are the same as men. I know that I had one son that was a “private pooper”, he could only do it at home. I would say, “If we eat, we poop.” It is a normal function. Seriously, I thought they all saw me eat.

I never had that talk with my boys about women getting their periods as they all learned about that in middle school when a local provider came to their school and talked about their changing bodies, as well as the school nurse educating them on all these great things that they were going through or would be.

I also left “the talk” to my husband. I did not feel that teenage sons would want their mom talking to them about birds and the bees. If I would bring up anything, my guys would get so flushed and be like, “okay, you can go now.”

There are so many topics that go along with our bodies that we just learn as we grow and as we connect with the person we love. If we are in a good loving relationship, we most likely share, although they may not understand, they endure and love us anyway.

I have endometriosis, so I have had heavy periods since I was in high school, I am so thankful for a friend that had a sister and understood back then and would give me his denim jacket to wrap around my waistline, because I couldn’t even make it through 3^rd period class without needing to go home. When you experience that humiliation repeatedly, you no longer feel the need to be discreet.

My cycles were so harsh that child labor with my firstborn was a breeze. I still had an epidural just because I wanted to be “aware” of every moment of his birthday and did not want to risk that I would be given Stadol or some drug to endure the end nor did I want to be in so much pain that I wasn’t “present”, as we know pain can do that. I remember the labor and delivery nurse surprised when they had checked me and I was dilated to a little over 6cm and wasn’t screaming, as she said that most women from her experience would be very uncomfortable by this point. The epidural had been placed early on but wasn’t turned on until then.

I endured years of what I call “lightening crotch”, “period poops”, and the harshest cramps every cycle. I even had an ablation after my third son was born, but it only helped for a year then all returned with a vengeance.  I was on birth control pills for years even after a tubal ligation to help with my cycles. Some days were so debilitating, sometimes it was hard to be at work, at a baseball game, at a school program or just to live life as everything was normal, because it wasn’t, especially when you are in the bathroom for a good percentage of the time. A hysterectomy was not the answer for me, as I was informed that it would be a very extensive procedure with higher risks of complications from my adhesions and more.

In my late 40’s, I had experienced night sweats with sleepless nights, but not sure if that was anxiety related or if it was perimenopausal. When I turned the big 5-0, I hardly had a cycle or symptoms and now that I am a few years older, I am having cycles like I am a teenager again. Good grief.  Not too long ago, I called my husband so mad that I couldn’t log into a website for our sons’ college funds. I was so frustrated and angry that nothing worked. That overwhelming feeling of being irrational, irritated, and so sad and then a week later get my period and be like, “oh, whoops. Sorry.”

If you are at a place in your life that you can relate to any of this, God bless and know we are going to get through it.

I think about how incredible we all are made and how every part of us functions, from our digestive system, circulation system, nervous system, and more. We are amazing, but if I could have talked to Eve in that garden that day, I know I would have persuaded her to not eat that apple, even if it meant using violence. I would have slapped that apple right out of her hand, I am sure of it.

As for all you “boy moms” out there, I am not saying that we should teach our sons about passing gas, pooping, and all those other great things we do, they will learn from their wives someday and although, they may find them disgusting at first, they will also learn to love them like no other. They will learn to appreciate them and their bodies for the beautiful design God created them to be, I just know. Some things are better taught by living and loving than by their moms.