Welcome to the land of puberty; the first words spoken to me by our instructor, Julie, as my daughter and I entered the classroom at Seattle Children’s Hospital. For over 25 years, Great Conversations has been helping pre-teens, teens, and their adults to navigate the world of puberty and all that comes with it. Now, it was my and my daughter’s turn.
“Julie's confidence and the concept of being is amazing, as well as illustrating how periods happen to all of us is a huge value of this class. I wish every girl could hear Julie's lecture on not letting having your period stop you from doing anything.”
I am not totally sure about this phase of life that my daughter is entering and entering way too quickly. I have tried to stop it. It didn’t work. So, I have decided that I must embrace it and help her get through it as easily as possible. I needed help, needed something more than just a book, and I found it with Great Conversations. Great Conversations is an organization created by Julie Metzger, a former nurse at Seattle Children’s Hospital. After working with pre-teens and teens at Children’s see saw a need to help these kids and their families get through this important and often confusing time of life. Great Conversations now runs classes in Seattle, Bellevue, and Everett. Their goals are –
- to promote communication with preteens, teens and within families
- to model how to initiate and improve the conversations on puberty, sex, decision-making, and growing up
- to present these topics in a humorous, down-to-earth way while being both factual and sensitive to families’ cultures and beliefs
They teach classes to both girls and boys and ask that an adult of the same sex come with the child to the class and they take it together, helping to open the conversation between child and adult and showing the child that they have a trusted adult to come to when things get a little difficult.
“I am relieved to have the door open in a very normal, safe and loving way. I needed this as much as my girl and I didn't even realize it.”
Geared to children between the ages of 10-12 years old, our class was full of other nervous girls and their just as nervous adults. Julie came in relaxed and with a big smile which put you right at ease from the first moment. She was open, funny, engaging, and knowledgeable. I worried that my daughter wouldn’t be able to sit through a 4-hour class, but my daughter had no problem with it at all. She even told me at the end that Julie was funny. Right before break times Julie would have the kids and adults write down a question or comment for her on a subject we had just covered. Then, after the break she read the comments and answer the questions. The girls were able to ask questions anonymously and learn that they were not the only girl with that same questions and/or concerns. I know that made my daughter feel better to know that she wasn’t alone, in any of it.
The first half of the class covered -
- What girls experience during puberty
- Problem solving and ideas for managing the changes
- Common concerns of puberty
The second half of the class covered –
- Feeling, actions, and consequences
- Boys experience of puberty
- Sexuality and sexual reproduction
- How babies develop and are born
- Finding trusted resources
“I thought that this was a good way to teach this lesson. I felt uncomfortable and unsure about this class going into it.” - Pre-teen
The class was just what my daughter and I needed. She left feeling secure in knowing what was going to be happening and that she was not alone, and I left feeling like we learned just enough to get the conversation started. Learn more about Great Conversations and their classes by going to their website or checking out their Facebook page. This summer we will be talking more about puberty both on the website and on our social media pages. Keep an eye out so we can all navigate through this together.
