7QT: It's starting to smell like teen spirit around here

7 Quick Takes about puberty because even though my kids are only 10 and 11, things are starting to, um, change around here!

1.  Arm Pit Hair - Both of my kids have arm pit hair!  I was shocked when I discovered this.  Doesn't 10 and 11 seem young to you for this?  Is it all the hormone, chemicals, preservatives in the food?  Or was I this young as well and have just blocked it all out?

2.  Shaving - And speaking of hair...Sarah came home from school one day last week and told me that some of her friends told her she needed to shave her legs.  She does have hair on her legs but it's very light in color and it really isn't too noticeable.  I told her that once you start shaving there's no turning back and if she really, really, really wanted to then I would let her.  She said she didn't want to but her friends told her she needed to.  So then we had the whole conversation about doing what is right for you and not what your friends think is right.

And good for her!  She decided not to shave her legs.  She's got a lifetime of shaving ahead.  No need to start yet.  Although I imagine this summer will be a different story.  

Peter has no facial hair yet and none even on the horizon as far as I can tell which is a good thing because he's not ready for a razor!

3.  Pimples - Peter had his very first pimple a couple of weeks ago.  I noticed this little red bump on his nose and exclaimed, "You've got a pimple!"  He was adamant that it wasn't a pimple, just "a spot".  Sarah confided in me that she had seen it and didn't want to pick on him about it because of Karma.  I told her it was nice that she didn't say anything to him but Karma or not she was going to get pimples too.

In fact, I have seen several very tiny, tiny little red bumps on her chin. She says they are allergy bumps from playing with the cat but I know better.  I've got plenty of Proactive on hand for any and all pimple emergencies because even at the lovely age of 45, I still get my fair share of them.  One of life's little cruelties - pimples and crow's feet at the same time.  I guess it's God's way of keeping us humble?!

4. Deodorant - The kids have been "wearing" it for a year now because y'all  - they stink!  And I've got "wearing" it in quotes because they only wear it if I remind them and I only remember to remind them on gym day.  We definitely need to get better about wearing the deodorant because I don't want my kids to be the stinky ones!

5.  Attitude - While Sarah's general attitude is still friendly and sweet, Peter has turned into a  beast, and a very unpredictable beast at that.  He doesn't want me to tell him what to do.  He gets mad at me if I remind him about something he has to do.  He doesn't want any help with anything ever.  But, if I don't tell him something and he forgets or if I try to help him with something he's struggling with then gets mad at me.  Eggshells, y'all!  That's what I'm walking on around here.

And each day is different.  I never know what I'm going to get.  Is my sweet little boy going to crawl out of bed or am I going to be face to face with my preteen monster?   It's always a crap shoot but more often than not, these days I get the monster.

6.  Affection - Last Friday after Mass, one of Peter's friends got out of line to give his mom a hug.  In fact, he gave her two hugs!  Peter got out of line and came up to me to tell me something but gave me a semi hug.  That's when he puts one of his shoulders towards me and allows me to put one arm around him.  After he told me what he needed to tell me, he got back in line.  It wasn't a full on hug, but I'll take what I can get.

Imagine my surprise when several hours later, I picked him up from school and tried to touch his shoulder as we were walking into the yogurt shop.  I was met with a violent body shake as he tried to distance his shoulder from my hand and a very loud, "Will you please just stop touching me!!!  You are always touching me!!!!!!"  Ahhhh...there's my preteen monster!

But this morning as he was leaving for school, he would not stop hugging me and telling me he's going to miss me and how much he loves me.  (He's got a sleepover after school and I won't see him until tomorrow.)  And just like that - I've got my sweet little boy back.

7.  Pretend you don't know me. - Peter is very excited about this sleepover he's having tonight with a couple of friends from school.  They are going to the high school football game and he is so excited that he gets to walk around with his friends at the game without any parents following them around.  (Because if I was there, I would totally want to follow them around and make sure they stayed out of trouble. Although I wouldn't do that but I would want to!)

When some of these same boys slept over here at the end of summer and we took them to dinner, Peter insisted that the boys sit at one table and Dan and I sit another. 

I thought about warning his friend's parents but then realized that they have an older daughter.  I'm sure she's already given them "the pretend you don't know me" treatment.

Parenting is never easy no matter what age or stage.  As soon as you think you've got it down - here comes something new!

Head on over to Jen's for more 7QT where there's no talk of body odor and pimples!