She's not currently sexually active — and yes, I'm sure of it. My daughter tells me everything.
You might be thinking, "Yeah, right. You're one of those moms who says that but knows nothing about your daughter."
But I do. I know about the time she wanted to meet up with a boy she really liked and I allowed her to and then… well, because I love her and respect her privacy, I'm not going to tell you everything that I know about my daughter, but believe me when I tell you that my daughter tells me everything.
And she's not having sex, nor has she ever had sex. But from what she tells me, many of her peers are having sex. Of course, she's curious. Who isn't at that age? And she's got many questions about sex and her body. Some of them she asks me and if I can answer those questions, I tell her, and we have great, hilarious, open and honest conversations.
But sometimes, there are things she doesn't want to ask me.
She wants to see a gynecologist.
I asked her if it was something that I could help her with and she told me that part of her doesn't seem 'right' in her vagina but other than that she couldn't explain it. I asked her if she thought she had a bump or a lump, because often, as we women know, we can get an ingrown hair that can get infected, and that can become irritating. She said it's not that. I asked her if she would feel comfortable showing it to me. She said no. She doesn't want to show it to her pediatrician either because she feels too close to that doctor. She would prefer going to a new, anonymous doctor.
There are things about her body that she may not understand. And what's going on with her is probably something that is completely normal. Nothing alarming is happening that warrants an immediate trip to the doctor so we're not concerned. She feels the need to speak with a doctor about her body and changes. Since she recently started her period and it's been irregular, I'm sure that's on her mind too.
I completely respect and am in awe of her decision to want to talk to a health professional about this. She's 15 years old and has the wisdom to already know that when she feels something might be off she wants to be proactive. She is in tune with her body and is going to do whatever it takes to care for herself.
We women should take this lesson from a smart 15-year-old and remind ourselves to not second-guess any changes in our bodies. Whether it's as simple as a yeast infection or God forbid, as scary as a lump in our breasts, let's remember to put ourselves first and be proactive with our health by making ourselves a priority! Let's be wise when it comes to our physical health.
More on teen health
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Helping teens take responsibility for their health
How to fix your teen's bad sleep habits