.Period.

I was asked this afternoon by my eldest son, "What's a period?"

After I asked him where he heard it, I was struck how just the other day, a friend of mine was inquiring about whether or not we had had "the talk", as she has a son the same age. If I want to, I can even convince myself that she had something to do with jinxing the whole concept so that it would be brought up now rather than later. Thanks, Irene.

So, I was preparing dinner and the young'uns were nearby, so I told him it was a punctuation at the end of a sentence, of course, and that I'd discuss it with him later in private. Then when G got home, I told him what Tommy had asked me and that he was at that age and that G should probably talk to him. He laughed, although he also asked where Tommy had heard it. TV, a commercial about tampons, take your pick.

So I made a deal with him. I told him if he had the talk with the boys, I'd gladly have it with the girls. I think that's fair, don't you?