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Five years ago my eldest son, "Big Z", turned 11. Little did I know the implications of this event until one day I nearly collided in the hallway with his two younger brothers running out of his room excitedly, apparently each of them wanting to be the first one to break some exciting (and rather amusing) news!

I asked what the excitement was about and in perfect unison they announced, "Z has hair on his private" followed by both of them collapsing on the floor in hysterical giggles!

Well of course I was in total disbelief, and I was convinced they were making it up, after all, Big Z had only just turned 11, and surely hair don't grow on your "private" until you're at least 13! So to confirm the verity of this recent announcement, I went to see my son in his room and asked him if it was true. Oblivious to what just happened in the hallway, as only he could be, he replied "What?" Your brothers said you have pubic hair growing now? He smiled back, rather proudly and said, "Mom, I've been growing that for a while now!"

Well, I was just floored! How could something like that happen without me knowing? This was my first-born son! I'm his mother, I should know everything! I suddenly felt totally out of touch and out of my depths with my parenting! I have always prided myself in being ahead of the game but this just completely threw me!

Still disbelieving, I looked at him, and as lovingly as I could manage without totally embarrassing him, and still hanging on to my own confidence and authority as a parent, I said "Drop your pants and show me!" And with that, I was systematically thrown out of his room!

I broke the news to my husband later that night and, of course, being male and hairy himself, he could totally relate. I told him I thought it was rather early and that I was a bit offended that I didn't know it was happening. I resolved to be a bit more observant and get myself up to speed with my parenting skills and prepare myself for the inevitable evolution of my parenting style because, you see, my sons and I are obviously entering a new relationship frontier. Changes are going to be more evident as we progress through this and they will surely be happening rapidly whether or not I was paying attention. Not only that, I only have a couple of years headway before the younger two boys step into puberty as well and I need to know how to handle this! Where do I find all the manuals for this?

Because he was my eldest child, it was only natural to expect that I would be

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