Birth Control

My Mom is at my house for the week. So last night, we were watching ER together, which is something that rarely happens now, but was a regular thing for us when we lived in the same house. This also brings me to my favorite parenting moment of all times. My Mom and I were watching ER, I was probably 16 or so (and still a virgin, as I was pretty much invisible to the opposite sex at that age). There was a pregnant teen on the show, so she turns to me and goes “I’ll kill you if you get pregnant before you graduate college.” That’s it. And, that was about as condemning as she got about things like sex, drinking and drugs. Unlike in most households, we were never told that you shouldn’t drink or do drugs or have sex while a teenager. It was a behavior that while not 100% accepted, was an expected part of life. It was a pretty good way to grow up. I didn’t feel any guilt about my decisions, or lack thereof. But, I knew that if I was stupid enough to get pregnant, I’d be the one who would have to deal with it. I felt totally comfortable going to my doctor and getting on the Pill when I was 17, because I knew I didn’t have to hide the pills from my parents, nor would they go through my stuff in an attempt to find out what I was doing. I don’t know how the birth control topic was covered with my middle two siblings, but with Liam, the youngest, the mantra has pretty much become “no glove, no love.”