The ongoing conversation…

I’ve been writing here for coming up on ten (!!) years, and I can still count my very favorite posts on a single hand. That means either that those posts are beyond stupendous and/or meaningful, or that a lot of what I write here is utter drivel. Let’s not think about it too hard.

One of incidents that will always hold a special place of combined hilarity and horror in my mind was detailed in this post from seven years ago wherein my darling daughter discovered that the human body is terrifying and disgusting.

A lot of time has passed, and I still ever-awkward in my sharing of Information I Think You Need when it comes to my kids. Probably they will never forgive me. Nevertheless, over at Alpha Mom I’m tackling the age-old topic of teenage dating, and yes, my children still wish I would just shut up, already.

20 Comments

  1. Vicki

    Loved the post from 2006. I told my three boys” the facts of life” after Darlene on Roseanne learned them. I did the whole tampon explanation as well. I think they were 9 and 6 (twins). I don’t remember having to revisit the topic with them ever again!

  2. Arnebya

    WHO TOLD YOU THAT? It’s been one of my favorites forever and ever amen.

  3. Aimee

    That’s one of my favorites, too! I went back and re-read it because I love it so much.

    BTW, that dating advice is not just for kids. It’s for adults, too.

  4. Rasselas

    That post is how I discovered your blog, actually, and have been following ever since. I’m not a mother, I won’t have children, but your writing and humor and style have kept me reading. :) Let’s hope for another ten years of interesting writing here! And more!

    • Mary Fran

      Me, too! I loved the follow up question of “you only have to do it once to have all the kids, right?”

  5. Katie in CA

    For whatever reason, I can’t comment on the Alpha Mom site. OMG I wish my mom had said those things to me. Not that it would have helped, but. You said it so perfectly. I have had the beginnings of the don’t touch anyone talk, and I LOVE what you said about being enthusiastic.

    Everything you said was what was wrong with my first love. Some days now, a million years later, I still want to bang my head against the wall at how dumbdumbdumb I was.

  6. Full Spectrum Mama

    One thing’s for sure: your humor, humility and honesty are the three h’s of wonderfulness. Definitely.
    Happy TEN YEARS??!!

  7. Brenda

    Oh my gosh, thanks for the reminder of that amazing throw-back post! Chickie’s horror still cracks me up! “WHO TOLD YOU THAT!” never stops being funny.

  8. Sonia

    What are your other favorite posts from the past, Mir?

    • Rasselas

      Seconding this! I had hoped Mir would write a retrospective with her comments on various old posts.

  9. Little Bird

    That’s excellent dating advice for any age really.

  10. el-e-e

    You’re going to think this is weird but I was thinking about that under-the-counter post just recently. Because my boy is 9 (!) and the time for The Talk approacheth and all. I just re-read the whole thing and laughed out loud, again.

  11. KateB

    I’ve only been reading for 2-3 years so that was a new post to me. LOVED it!!! When you are having writer’s block, throw a bone to new and old readers alike and repost your favorites. But, I also enjoy you writing about having writer’s block, so I’m good either way.

  12. Andrea

    That was the most awesome sex talk story ever. Think you could come talk to my kids?

  13. Elizabeth

    Make a video! Youtube it for everyone who can’t say it themselves!

  14. MelissaB

    I remember having the talk with my oldest, now nearly 20 year old, daughter. Her response to the explanation of how sex works was spoken with both glee and aplomb and quite a bit of head nodding, “I think I’m going to want to do that a lot!”. I didn’t know whether I should feel proud or fearful, but I did have to stifle the giggles for the rest of the day.

  15. Chuck

    I forget if you posted it here or not but I think my favorite column by you was “The Keeper.” I go back and reread it sometimes. Good luck with the doggie audition this weekend!

  16. Dawn

    I remember reading that in 2006 and chuckling. I was so naive, because my kids were 2 and 5 and I knew it would be FOREVER before I needed to worry about having that conversation. Well I just blinked and dammit they’re 9 and 12 now and I only hope I have done as well as you did!
    Good luck with the dog today!

  17. Sheila

    Can that actually be seven years ago?

    If we’re nominating, your post about the, ahem, adult toy party is my favorite in the Mir Being Funny category, but really all the posts that make me cry (and there are too many to name) are my favorite.

    Off to Alpha Mom now, because although my kid says she’ll NEVER have a boyfriend, I have found your advice to be spot on so many times, I think it’s worth a read JUST IN CASE someone *does* start dating, WHICH IS IMPOSSIBLE BECAUSE OH JUST FORGET IT SHE CAN’T POSSIBLY EXPLAIN ANYTHING TO ME I WOULDN’T UNDERSTAND.

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