I remember, when I was approaching that tween age (they didn’t call us tweens in late 80’s/early 90’s), my mom didn’t really talk to me about what to expect when puberty hit. Instead she bought me the What’s Happening to My Body Book for Girls. It just so happened that I had a sleepover that same night so my friend and I read the book, cover to cover, and laughed at the pictures. Even though I was mortified at the thought of periods and everything else I read in that book, the one thing I remember being super excited about was shaving.
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Tweens and Shaving
If you have a not so girly girl like I do, then the topic of shaving could end up being rather awkward for both of you (mainly her). The first time I brought it up, mainly to let my daughter know that I was A-OK with her shaving whenever she wanted to, she looked at me with a horrified look on her face and then walked away. She wanted nothing to do with the conversation. Since I knew what it was like to shave in secret (and cut the heck out of my legs), and I knew how cruel kids can be nowadays, I decided to just pick something up for her and not make a big deal out of it.
Best Razor Option
There are so many razor options the market. I did briefly ask her if she would like an electric razor and the idea of that horrified her so I decided that the Schick Intuition razor was a good option. With that thick moisturizing bar, not only does it make it super easy to use in the shower, but out of all the razors I’ve ever used, I find that with the Schick Intuition I have a very difficult time cutting myself, so I knew that would be a good starter razor for her.
Rather than embarrass her anymore than I already did about the whole topic of shaving, I simply purchased the razor and put it in the shower. When she was about to get in the shower, I let her know it was there and told her that she had to let me know when the moisturizing bar was getting low because she would need a new one. She knows that if she needs help or isn’t sure how to use it, to ask me. While me bringing up the subject was embarrassing to her, I know that she will (and she has) feel perfectly comfortable asking me for help if she needs it!
Talking to Your Tween
One thing I have learned many times over is that how you handle things with one kid, may not be how you handle it with the other. My son loves to talk about anything and everything having to do with puberty. Part of me thinks he likes to because of the reaction he gets when he brings the topic up in weird places like the frozen food aisle at Meijer, but nevertheless, the topic itself does not embarrass him. So with him I can say whatever and it’s fine. With a child like my daughter who doesn’t want to hear anything about the topic, I have to approach things very differently and do it in small doses. And get her things like the What’s Happening to My Body? Book for Girls: Revised Edition (the whole “revised edition” cracks me up. What in the world did they revise???).
Rose says
I have four kids. Three are boys. Their dad schooled them on shaving. The baby, who isn’t really a baby anymore, I’ll have to school and I have no idea how to shave a boy’s face, lol. Maybe I”ll have one of his older brothers come over… 🙂
Brandy says
I have all boys in my house so I won’t have to teach everything that about shaving, since my husband will be the one teaching them how to shave their face. But I have a friend with a daughter and she’s trying to teach her how to shave. I will have to tell her about this post.
Marysa says
I think we are close to this point. I did buy my daughter the Care of You book, and she really appreciated it. My kids are on swim team and apparently the older girls who started shaving recently need to be more careful about shaving and not cutting themselves!
Brandy says
This is a really great conversation to address so that others know how to have this talk. I don’t remember what I said or did when it came time for my daughter to shave, I do know she has dark hair so the conversation happened earlier than I wanted to! These are great razors to try, thanks for sharing. Soon enough I will have to have the chat with my sons, I am sure!
Jess Benoit says
We already went through this with our 16 year old and it was, surprisingly, her dad who suggested it was time for her to start shaving when she was younger! Our 10 year old has no interest whatsoever but she also doesn’t even “need” to yet. I guess when she’s ready she’ll let us know. Schick Intuition is a great razor to start with.