BO

That's right BO, aka body odor. Jenna is 8 and a half years old. The other morning when I woke her up for school, we were chillin' in her bed and she casually said that her pits were stinky. I laughed and said, "what?" I figured she had read it in a book or had seen it on TV or something. I said, "are you sure?" She raised her arm, and I took a sniff, feeling sure that I would smell nothing, and then wam! B.O.! I am not talking about terrible BO, but definitely BO. I smiled and shook my head.
What! I googled "when do little girls start having underarm odor?" I got back some stupid opinions, and then came across a credible website from the American Academy of Pediatrics, and it said that girls hit puberty between 8 and 13 years old. CRAP! I am not ready for this. She is not ready. I know that it doesn't mean that other stuff is just around the corner, but I figure I better get that book that I was saving for when she is 9, a little sooner.
 It is ironic because we were just talking in the YM board meeting the other Sunday about girls (12-14 year olds specifically) and BO. We were talking about the deodorant debate, and also how being smelly is hard on the child socially. It didn't even occur to me that Jenna would be dealing with this soon. Geez, I have said it a hundred times. I was so naive  pushing out babies, thinking that I can do this. But this parenting business is serious stuff! There is a funny line off of Marley and Me that says something to the effect that "why didn't people tell us that this would be hard" (talking about parenting) and she answers, "they probably did,but even if we had listened, we would have just thought that they we miserable and negative people". So true!