PUBERTY.
My son is eight and I'm already dreading the talk. Some may think that it's a little too soon to be worrying, but it's not that uncommon anymore for kids to start earlier and earlier. I feel like I even have more reason to worry because my son is a big boy. I'm not talking morbidly obese (though he has some chunk), I'm talking about tall in general. He's in second grade and already 5'1 and 100 lbs. And, it seems to me that the kids that go through as many growth spurts as he has (he went up two shoe sizes in a month. Size eight in men. Gah!), they tend to go through puberty sooner than kids that grow at a more... "normal" rate.
So, here's my conundrum.
I am a single mom. Although there is SOME male support in my family (I have a brother-in-law, a step-dad, and a brother), I feel that although my son loves and looks up to them all, none of their relationships are really all that close to broach an embarrassing subject like puberty. I understand that it looks like it will be me to approach the subject with him, and it looks like I should do it soon before it hits him and he gets too scared to talk about it. I tried talking to my mom for advice... and she was clueless. She didn't raise my brother, and when it was time for my sister and I to get the talks, we watched videos in school. I'm not even sure if they do that anymore, and if they do, I have a feeling that 5th grade might be too late.
This is what I'm asking, in a nutshell. How would you approach the subject of puberty, specifically with a boy? Would you approach it differently with one that has basically had no close male bonds?
(Side note: If this seems like I'm rambling a little, it's because my cold medicine has me a little loopy... woooo.
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