School maturation, oh the joy

My nearly 11 year old, blissfully unaware that a few short
weeks from this time his wicked witch of a mother will
force him to attend the dreaded school maturation clinic.
Mwahahaha!!

This morning, just after the kids left for school, I was in Bryce and Parker's bedroom to turn off the light (I don't know how things are at your house but flipping the light switch and pulling the door closed are two rare and exotic feats at our house).

I noticed a bright pink paper in the garbage that looked official, so I pulled it out.  I found that it is a permission slip for an upcoming school maturation clinic for Bryce, my fifth grader.

I guess he didn't want me to see it, so he threw it away.

Now, if you've been reading my blog long you know that I am not shy about sharing reproductive truths with my kids.  I want them to hear it from me, not their friends.  Words like "penis" and "vagina" are pretty familiar in our house, even with our small ones (and not just as jokes, although the older boys and their school friends are heading in to that phase...grrr).

Still, I think a school maturation clinic is a great idea.  Maybe I should tag along just to embarrass Bryce even more (since it seems he doesn't even want to go).  Making the child attend with his mommy might be a bit too much. (Josh just told me about a boy whose mother came with him to his maturation clinic.  The mother sat there cross stitching while her son wriggled in mortified silence.  I think that is pretty hilarious...Josh says I am under no circumstances allowed to attend.)

I imagine there is nothing they will cover that we haven't talked about before, but I think it will be good for him to hear it from someone other than his parents.  The list of covered topics does seem pretty thrilling.  "They physical and emotional changes one can expect at the onset of puberty," "Maturation has its own timetable and often poses problems for both the early and the late maturing student."  Sounds like an exciting afternoon.  I'll be interested to hear all about it when he gets home that day. 

Of course, he'll probably come home with more jokes.  Sigh.  I guess that's the price you pay for having boys.