Menopause: awesome!

One of the things I'm most proud of is my ability to discuss menopause. And I love that about my generation generally. It's a health issue, no different than arthritis, and it can be discussed without shame or embarrassment.

So I'm at my office talking about menopause with my co-worker Robin who is about ten years older than I am. She has successfully navigated the menopause waters and is a big help. Unlike my 70 year mother who denies she has experienced it yet and can't we change the subject for God's sake.

Robin told me about a great book on menopause. I looked it up and read a chapter or two. I was thrilled and relieved to discover that a weird thing I've been experiencing is actually part of menopause. My toes cramp and cross over. It's seriously referred to as flat toe. For months I've been worried that it was the first sign of significant neurological disorder and I've been afraid. But no, it's hormones. Awesome!

The book discusses how great this time of life is. How empowering. And not solely because you can own sex without pregnancy fears, but also because the hormones that provide care giving instincts, the compromisers and accommodaters, lessen. You no longer have the urge to mother people and make sure they feel good. Cook nourishing meals for everyone and keep the house perversely clean. It gives women a killer instinct at just the time in their career arch when they need it.

Of course someone will need to tell my five year old why I think he should drive himself to school and make his own dinner, but that's okay. I won't care since that mothering instinct is a distant memory. Really they should tell women this stuff before they delay motherhood.

By the time you become a mom, you won't feel like it any more.