Boys in the ladies' room

It's bound to happen - kids peeking under stalls, through cracks in the door, running the hand dryer non-stop....Kids in the bathroom while you're trying to take care of business.

I only wish they'd label the vending machines with "vegetables for sale" so my kids would stop asking what comes out of them. "Mom, it's only a quarter, can we get one??" Or, as recently happened to my friend: "Mom, what's a TAM-PONE?" (spoken loudly in front of many).

It's usually an embarrassing topic for most adults, but I think starting with very vague terms you can spill some of the beans without getting into too much detail or scaring the poor kid. But, when my 5 year old asked me again yesterday what EXACTLY would come out of the machine (not just "things for mommies bodies", I finally had to give him a little more information (as soon as the bathroom was vacated by everyone else). My kids have seen my reusable pantyliners in the wash (and even help put them away), so we have had a light conversation about what mommies do with things like that.

This book helped me immensely to be able to have some discussion around bodies and their natural functions. My kids were TOTALLY interested and asked quite a few questions. I highly recommend this book to anyone with kids (we started reading it when my kids were 6 and 4).

I'm always curious about what people with daughters will do when they hit puberty. I wonder if I'd go down the Diva Cup and reusable pad route...I think I would.

Do you have any good recommendations for "the talk"? Or any funny stories that have happened? Please share!