Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Planning is the Key

Mondays and Wednesdays. Those are our days, the ones during which Hatchling (Chicky's younger brother) has some sort of scheduled "Other Activity." Those are the days when Chicky and I are guaranteed some girl time.

Accordingly, those are our Itchy Issues days. Trying to talk about the myriad of Itchy Issues "when we get a minute" just really wasn't working. We never got much of a private minute, and when we did, it was weird to suddenly just leap into a loaded conversation. Consequently, we didn't talk about these important issues nearly as often or in as much detail as I would have preferred. So, I did what any logical lady would do-- I scheduled.

I decided that when Hatchling went to his activities on Mondays and Wednesdays, Chicky and I would devote that time to talking about Something Important. I hoped she would be onboard with this idea or, at least, would not be horrified by it.

On Monday, things went well. I asked Chicky if there was anything in particular she wanted to start off talking about, and when she declined to come up with an idea, I jumped in.We read some of the Greatest Book Ever Written (It's Perfectly Normal-- the link is on the right side of the page), and talked about it. It was a little challenging, as I decided to start with one of the "itchiest" of topics-- sex-- but the conversation went very smoothly, Chicky listened closely, and I think she learned a lot.

On Wednesday, Chicky brought up the plan herself! She confirmed that we were going to have some more girl time that day, and then was quiet for a second. I asked her if there was anything in particular she wanted to talk about. "I knew you were going to ask me that, so I was thinking about it," she answered. "I think I want to talk about boys."

Calloo! Callay! She's into it! Like any other reasonable human being, she finds it kind of awkward. But she's certainly down with having these conversations.

I think we're on the right track.

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