Canada Moms Blog

The Body Scoop for Girls by Dr. Jennifer Ashton: A SV Moms Group Book Club

What questions do teen girls have that they are embarrassed to ask? Who will they be asking? And what answers will they receive? Knowledge is power - why not give our daughters some of that? Join us today as we discuss the book The Body Scoop for Girls by Jennifer Ashton, M.D., Ob-Gyn with Christine Larson.

Here are what the SV Moms Group contributors have to say today, all inspired by the book The Body Scoop for Girls:

• Jennifer from Connect with your Teens through Pop Culture and Technology says that teen girls today have more pressure, yet also more resources
• April from It's All About Balance sees that these girls, they are a'changing
• Lisa from Grandma's Briefs has no talk here
• Michele Spring Fajeau from ReadOutLoud advises to "just say know"
• FireMom from Stop, Drop & Blog reviews The Body Scoop for Girls
• Nancy from From Hip to Housewife asks when is puberty ed a bit too ed-ucational?
• Eileen from The Breezeway gets emotional about the future
• Amy from Occupation: Mommy is giving her girls the scoop
• Cristie from The Traveling Circus talks hormones with the girl
• Bonggamom from Finding Bonggamom explain that girls have xxx and boys have yyy
• Roxane from Rox and Roll has a confession to make
• Rachel E. Ayers from A Little Each Day is doing a little advance planning, since her daughter is only 15...weeks old
• Melissa from Life with Sophia states that it's not a vagina, people
• Dannie from DannieSpeaks thinks it's ok to have a guide
• Vanessa from Chefdruck Musings talks about the birds and the bees at home
  

DC Metro Moms Blog is hosting the book club discussion this month. Please go here to join in the discussion.

Past SV Moms Group Book Clubs have included:

• Just Let Me Lie Down by Kristin van Ogtrop, Editor of REAL SIMPLE magazine
• National Geographic's Green Guide Families by Catherine Zandonella
• Top 100 Finger Foods and Top 100 Baby Purees by Annabel Karmel
• The Possibility of Everything by Hope Edelman
• The Mominatrix's Guide to Sex by Kristen Chase
• Coco Chanel & Igr Stravinsky by Chris Greenhalgh
• See Mom Run by Beth Feldman
• Close Encounters of the Third-Grade Kind by Phillip Done
• This is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Topper
• Do One Nice Thing by Debbie Tenzer
• Birth Day by Mark Sloan, M.D.
• What Happened to the Girl I Married? by Michael Miller
• Testimony by Anita Shreve
  
• Comfort Food by Kate Jacobs
  
• Much to Your Chagrin by Suzanne Guilette
  
• It Started with Pop-Tarts by Lori Hanson
  
• Who By Fire by Diana Spechler
• The White Trash Moms Handbook by Michelle Lamar
• Writing Motherhood by Lisa Garrigues
• The Vaccine Book by Dr. Robert W. Sears
• The Other Mother by Gwendolen Gross

Click here to read all about the SV Moms Group Book Club.

Let's talk about sex, Mom

When I was in grade four, the brother of a girl in my class brought a condom to school. The news spread like wildfire – by recess, a large group of kids had surrounded his locker, hoping for a glimpse. Having no idea what a condom was, let alone what one looked like, my curiosity had been sufficiently piqued. When I got home from school that afternoon, I broached the subject with my mother.

After her coughing fit had subsided, she fished a piece of paper from a pile on the dining room table and drew her best dome. I’d learned in sex-ed class (led by my hairy-chested and very oversexed Phys-Ed teacher) that a condom was used during sexual intercourse – I just didn’t know why, or what one looked like. Thanks to my mother’s illustration, I thought for years that condoms were made of hard plastic, with finely pointed tips.

That drawing, those sex-ed classes and what was scrawled in the stalls of my school’s second-floor bathroom sums up the extent of my sexual education as a child. I entered my teen years armed with more knowledge about the dangers of sex than its pleasures; when it came to the act of lovemaking itself, I was fairly clueless. It’s not the experience I want for my own children, and when it comes to The Talk, I have no qualms about having an open, honest discussion with them, when the time is right.

And when that time comes along I’m pretty sure that this half of the parental unit will be leading the conversation, as my husband still blushes when I use anatomically correct terms with our kids and shuts down altogether at the thought of them becoming sexually active.

“You can take care of that stuff,” he once told me, which, according to this article, is a popular consensus among fathers. It seems that, along with making meals, scheduling appointments, cutting crusts off of sandwiches and, well, everything else, initiating The Talk winds up on many mothers’ To Do lists as well.

According to the article, a third of kids in the U.S. aged 15-17 have had sex. Among teens aged 15-19, 13 per cent of females and 15 per cent of males had sex before they’d turned 15. A Toronto-based survey revealed that among teens aged 13 to 18, one-third were sexually active. It’s not surprising, really – sex is everywhere these days, and kids aren’t stupid.

*The Real Housewives*: Better Than a Chai Latte

If you've read my personal blog, you'll know I've developed a bit of an obsession with The Real Housewives TV series on Bravo. That's right -- The Real Housewives of Atlanta, New York, Orange County AND New Jersey. (I understand there's a DC Housewives, too, but it hasn't made it to Canada yet, as far as I know....)

The obsession began a few weeks ago when I came down with a vicious bout of the stomach flu -- like I've never had it before. It hurt to listen to my iPod, to flip pages of a novel, and obviously I couldn't eat. All I could do was writhe in my bed in front of the TV. And there on my TV was a Housewives marathon.... One after the other after the other. And, I was like, "WHERE have you been all my life!"

All I wanted to do was escape. Escape from how I was feeling, and any other stress that might cause my head to throb any harder. So I watched. And I watched. And then I swore I'd never get hooked on Jersey, but then I saw the table-flipping clip on youtube, and I was, like, "screw brain cells! I have to watch this!" I was hooked.

The Mominatrix's Guide to Sex by Kristen Chase: A SV Moms Group Book Club:

With Valentine's weekend just behind it, we're having a little love talk...well, sex talk, really. Do moms still have good sex lives? Can they? Join us today as we discuss The Mominatrix's Guide to Sex: A No-Surrender Advice Book by Kristen Chase.

• Thien-Kim from DC Metro Moms leads us off, saying sexy is an attitude, but sexy panties help. Thien-Kim also gives us some tips on her personal blog Laugh in Bed about parent-friendly sex toys
• Kimberly from Tippy Toes and Tantrums states that her boundaries are easily tested
  
• Vanessa from Chefdruck Musings waxes oh valentine
• Melanie from tales from the crib's countdown continues
• Bonggamom from Finding Bonggamom asks what is fun in the bedroom? sex or text?
• Cristie from The Traveling Circus is talking about sex so run for your life!
• Kristine from Mommy Needs Therapy or a Bottle of Wine
   advises keeping your naughty mom groove on
• Lisa H. from Hannemaniacs asks if her blog is blushing
• Monica from Lady M talks about friends with books
• Mamaneena from hooney! critic is doin' butt
• Rox from Rox and Roll is speechless
• Amy from Occupation Mommy has another occupation: wife
• Meghan from Meghan's Mindless Muttering talks about dry spells
• Alma from Marketing Mommy finds What Every New Mom Wants.

DC Metro Moms Blog is hosting the book club discussion this month. Please go here to join in the discussion.

Past SV Moms Group Book Clubs have included:

• Coco Chanel & Igr Stravinsky by Chris Greenhalgh
• See Mom Run by Beth Feldman
• Close Encounters of the Third-Grade Kind by Phillip Done
• This is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Topper
• Do One Nice Thing by Debbie Tenzer
• Birth Day by Mark Sloan, M.D.
• What Happened to the Girl I Married? by Michael Miller
• Testimony by Anita Shreve
  
• Comfort Food by Kate Jacobs
  
• Much to Your Chagrin by Suzanne Guilette
  
• It Started with Pop-Tarts by Lori Hanson
  
• Who By Fire by Diana Spechler
• The White Trash Moms Handbook by Michelle Lamar
• Writing Motherhood by Lisa Garrigues
• The Vaccine Book by Dr. Robert W. Sears
• The Other Mother by Gwendolen Gross

Click here to read all about the SV Moms Group Book Club.

Testimony by Anita Shreve: A Silicon Valley Moms Group Book Club

This month, for Silicon Valley Moms Group bloggers' monthly book club, we read a novel that many of us, as mothers, found tough to read. But probably every mother should read it. And their teenagers too - especially their teenagers.

Join in as Silicon Valley Moms Group bloggers discuss the book Testimony by Anita Shreve.

• DC Metro Moms Blog's Amy G. leads us off with hoping she has done enough
• Wife and Mommy from Wife and Mommy thinks of all the moments she knew her life would never be the same
• Jennifer from Connect with your Teens discusses the ramifications and repercussions of teenage drinking
• Melanie from Tales from the Crib forecasts the future
• Bonggamom from Finding Bonggamom remembers temptation
• The Fabulous Miss S from Fabulous Miss S screamed in her head "No! Don't do it!"
• Silicon Valley Diva from Blog on the Wall shudders when she thinks back to her teenage years
• Kim from Passion & Art says no one asks to be raped
• Chefdruck from Chefdruck Musings gives her own testimony
• Jessica from It's My Life thinks about when the best isn't the best after all
• Robin from Who's the Boss gives her testimony
• Gayle from Everyday I Write the Book reviews Testimony
• Christina from The Carpool Reader goes through the evolution of a marriage
• Linsey from Me Too You is glad she got caught

More posts will be put up throughout the day on our writer's personal sites, so be sure to check back to follow along.

.... and if you have a post up on YOUR personal site on this topic, please leave a comment here and we will add your link!

About the book - from the publisher Hachette Book Group:

At a New England boarding school, a sex scandal is about to break. Even more shocking than the sexual acts themselves is the fact that they were caught on videotape. A Pandora's box of revelations, the tape triggers a chorus of voices--those of the men, women, teenagers, and parents involved in the scandal--that details the ways in which lives can be derailed or destroyed in one foolish moment.

Writing with a pace and intensity surpassing even her own greatest work, Anita Shreve delivers in TESTIMONY a gripping emotional drama with the impact of a thriller. No one more compellingly explores the dark impulses that sway the lives of seeming innocents, the needs and fears that drive ordinary men and women into intolerable dilemmas, and the ways in which our best intentions can lead to our worst transgressions.

Past Silicon Valley Moms Group Book Clubs have included:

• Comfort Food by Kate Jacobs
• Much to Your Chagrin by Suzanne Guilette
  
• It Started with Pop-Tarts by Lori Hanson
• Who By Fire by Diana Spechler
• The White Trash Moms Handbook by Michelle Lamar
• Writing Motherhood by Lisa Garrigues
• The Vaccine Book by Dr. Robert W. Sears
• The Other Mother by Gwendolen Gross

The Baby Formula Breaks, Um, The Formula

Hollywood movies about birth and babies tend to take a predictable route: couple discovers that the woman of the pair is pregnant, man of the couple gets all flustered and blustery, woman remains patient and mature, misunderstandings abound, hilarities ensue, woman is rushed to hospital, man realizes error of his ways when squawling baby is placed in his arms, happy happy happy, END SCENE.

Adjust for variations involving adoption and teen pregnancy, but basically: ALL THE SAME.

Which, meh. Can we get something different around here? Please?

Oh, hey! Hello, Alison Reid!

Birth Rates Drop Due to Recession

When news of the recession loomed and job loss started to rear its ugly head people began to take precautionary measures by means of halting procreation. Research has shown the sharpest decline of births at the start of this most recent economic recession while home prices and gas prices were at their highest. Many young couples have apparently postponed starting a family due to economic pressures whilst others have taken far more drastic measures. {source}

"For the first time in American history, [the] birthrate has dropped to roughly replacement level - or the number of births needed to maintain a stable population." {source} (this information is based on the latest available comprehensive analysis from 2006).

There is also evidence of higher instances of abortion and vasectomies as people fear the worst and take measures to protect their livelihoods.

But to what extent would you go to ensure that you're family is recession proof?

Are song lyrics too explicit?

I am going to sound old.  And like your parents.  I know this but yet, I have to get this off my chest.  Song lyrics have become like soft porn.  It’s ridiculous.  Lady Gaga goes on about riding a disco stick for goodness sake.  Last time I checked disco was a 1970’s phenomenon and I don’t recall any “sticks” being involved.  Okay, so I was five, whatever.

But don’t songs (and TV shows and movies) just keep getting more explicit?  I remember singing  Olivia Newton John's “Let’s Get Physical” when I was a kid and my mom admonishing me.  I had no clue what that meant.  I think, because she was wearing a leotard in the video, I thought it meant exercise.  But I can guarantee the dialogue with my mom about it, got me thinking.

HPV: To Prick or Not to Be Pricked?

A few weeks ago I was sitting in my family doctor's office, and I found myself staring at the same poster that's been on the wall for two years now. It's a call to protect young girls from HPV with the Gardasil vaccine. Seventy-five percent of the adult population will be infected with the HPV virus at some point in their sexual history. This makes it, by far, the most commonly occurring STD around. If you're shaking your head and insisting, "I've never had it," don't be so sure. Many of us never know we were infected.