When the Girl is Growing Up

As most of you know, Angela is my only daughter among 7 boys.

Needless to say, I know a lot about raising boys but not so much about raising girls!

Yeah, I'm a girl, but not a "girly girl". Most who know me personally will say I tend toward the tomboy end of the spectrum. That's probably why I have a hard time knowing the best way to teach Angela some of the things that come along with being a young lady.

A couple years ago another blog friend of mine posted about teaching her girls to shave their legs when they turn 13. Angela was also 13 at the time, and honestly, my mom mind hadn't even gone there yet! 

That night when Angela got home from school I inspected her legs. Mmmm...nope! She hardly had any hair on her legs yet, but that's when I became aware of all the other girls Angela's age. Most (all?) were already shaving! Ugh, where had I been?

Fast forward and Angela is turning 16 in just a few weeks. She's in high school. HIGH SCHOOL! We went to the YMCA over the weekend, and there was a small group of high school girls in the locker room getting ready to run the track together. They made me realize summer - which includes shorts and swimsuits - is fast approaching. It's time for Angela to learn to shave. I already knew that Angela would not tolerate the vibration of an electric razor, so a standard razor it would be. Lord help me.

When BlogHer asked me to participate in this review it was perfect timing. I gathered all the necessary supplies:

I was glad it was a Venus Embrace for a couple of reasons. First of all, it has a soft-grip handle for great control. It also has 5 very tiny blades, giving a very close, comfortable shave and I figured a close shave means more time between shaves! Another feature is a ribbon of moisture for a smooth glide. Angela needs as little friction as possible because her legs are extremely sensitive. Also, like the the other Venus razors I use myself, the Venus Embrace has interchangeable razor blade refill cartridges.

The Satin Care Passionista Fruit Satin Care shave gel has a great sparkling, fruity scent that is very girly and seems like something teen girls would really like.

So I had the stuff.† Now how to approach this with her? Is this the right time? Can she handle it? Can I??? I called her into the bathroom . . .

"Angela, come here I want to show you something."

She came into the bathroom annoyed with me because usually if I want to "show her something" it means fix whatever mess she made earlier. LOL 

"What?" she said, with a classic teenage tone.

"What's coming up in June? I keep forgetting," I said, feigning forgetfulness.

"My BIRTHDAY! 16! YAY! I want a dance party!"

"Oh that's right! Do you know that at 16, you're really not a little girl anymore. A lot of girls, when they turn 16, get to start shaving their legs."

"What?" she asked, thinking I was nuts. "Like moms? Girls 16 shave their legs like moms?"

"Yes, just like moms. Now, this is only for the most grown-up, mature girls. Shaving your legs is something you have to be very careful doing. That's why it's important for me to show you how to do it and not one of your friends. Do you think you'd like to give it a try?"

She put on her most serious face for me. "I try it!"

I handed her the Passionista Fruit Satin Care shave gel.


"Do you know what this is? This is called shave gel. What does it say on the bottle?"

She started reading without her usual complaining that I'm making her read! "It says 'Great shave gel for new shavers." She turned it over, and in my radio voice I helped her read the back. "Passionista Fruit Satin Care is the secret to silky smooth legs."

I explained to her: You get to put the shave gel on your legs, and it will do three things. First you'll be able to see where you've already shaved, and it will also make you smell great and give you smooth legs. How cool is that?"

"I want some on my hand. Please?"

She spread it around like lotion. "Mmmm smells nice!"

"Ok, now onto the serious part. Do you know what this is?" I carefully set the Venus Embrace in her hand, showing her where to put her fingers so she'd have control of it.

"It's a shaver thing," she answered.

"That's right. It's called a razor." I turned it over so she could see the underside. "Do you see these? Those are the blades. The sharp part. You don't ever want to touch those with your fingers because they can cut you. But I'm going to show you the right way to hold it so that doesn't happen. You've seen me shave my legs, and it doesn't hurt. I don't get cut. It's very important that you only shave your legs with mom around so I can help make sure you stay safe, ok?"

We got onto the business of actually shaving her legs. Angela loved how smooth and silky the Passionista Fruit Satin Care felt on her legs. I did the first couple of swipes with the Venus Embrace razor so she could get used to how it felt. She didn't really want to do it herself so we did it hand-over-hand. Angela loved how her legs felt afterward and couldn't wait to go show Dean her silky smooth legs!

If you have a first-time shaver in your home, you should check out some of these great tips.

I know Angela is starting to pay more attention to her appearance and I want to make sure she's getting the right information from me. What are some ways you tackle conversations like shaving (or other tough†"firsts") with your daughter? Venus Brand is having a sweepstakes. Leave me a comment answering that question to be entered for a chance to†win a $50 Visa gift card!

Rules:

No duplicate comments.

You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:

a) Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post

b) Tweet about this promotion and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post

c) Blog about this promotion and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post

d) For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.

This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older. Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.

The Official Rules are available here.

This sweepstakes runs from 5/21 - 6/30

Be sure to visit the Venus Brand feature page on†BlogHer.com†where you can read other bloggersí reviews and find more chances to win!