Let me tell you 'bout the birds and the bees.

Seventeen years too late, I finally had "the talk" with my mom.

So we're spending Sunday afternoon together when all of a sudden (okay, not so suddenly) the topic turns to s-e-x. Let me tell you: the topic has never ever ever turned to this before. I was the girl, in fifth grade, whose parents wouldn't sign the permission slip for Human Growth and Development (ie sex ed) because I was too young (but, oddly enough, signed that of my brother when he was in fifth grade, even though he was a year young for his grade...but that's neither here or there).

Apparently, my mother thinks her little Reluctant Dater is not as...shall we say reluctant as she actually is. While she definitely never thought I was a promiscuous girl, she surely had me pegged as someone with more experience than I actually have. Amusing yet equally disturbing.

My mother was not raised in this country and married at a very young age. Thus, I always assumed that her views on sex related topics would be pretty conservative and old school (lbh, I was probably just always too embarrassed to just ask her), that her "cool" nature was just a show, that when it came down to it, "morality" and "the right thing" would always rule over hormones and desires. I could not have been more mistaken.

It is very unnerving to discuss things of this nature, so frankly, with your mother when it's never been a topic of conversation before. I learned a lot about her views on all things premarital sex, her opinion on the choices available if an "accident" occurs, how she feels about cohabitation before marriage and her overall take on my love/like life.

If you know me, you know I am hard pressed to discuss things of this nature, even with the closest of my friends; if I do, it is often prodded out of me (you lucky few who get to hear about it without forcing it should feel honored). So, you can imagine what the vibe in the car was on Sunday afternoon. Ultimately, it was interesting to go through my dating history and hear what she had to say about my various past suitors, as well as her opinion on my current beau (which, btw, is going very well. Like with a capital V).

What was most interesting, though, was how really easy it was to talk to her about all of this. I think I may have found myself a new non-professional therapist (to add to my growing legion, not to replace any or all). Non-judgmental and quite progressive, I know she will tell it like it is.

And, as usual, she will probably be right.