I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream: When Puberty Meets Perimenopause

Taking it one scoop at a time

Photo by Daniele La Rosa Messina on Unsplash

I always thought I’d been smart to wait. I didn’t feel ready to become a mother until my late twenties. Before that, I was too busy juggling college and jobs to even consider fitting a child into my life. When I had my first child at 30, I was ready. I had worked out what I thought I needed to and just wanted to be a mom.

I didn’t factor in coming face-to-face with the reality that my marriage wasn’t working. Having children certainly brought that to the forefront. I also didn’t calculate what it would be like to be a single mother of not one but two children. It wasn’t the motherhood experience I anticipated — but I have adored it.

But I forgot one curious fact about timing:

Sometimes, despite all our best laid plans, timing just sucks.

My children are going into puberty right on time, and I’m arriving at the onset of perimenopause. Now I understand why so many women started having babies earlier. At least they could survive their children’s puberty before having to manage their own peri- symptoms.

In my house, we get to have it all. All the mood swings! All the bodily changes! All the awkward symptoms! All at…