We Answer: What’s the WORST Thing About Puberty?
The Whole Story for girls is a video-based online course featuring my daughters (Katie and Rebecca) explaining how sex works, what your period is, all about bras, and hygiene, as well as peer pressure and how to handle dating. The girls start the conversations by talking about the awkward stuff, but then checklists, discussion questions, and mother-daughter activities help moms keep those conversations going.
And now we’ve got the boy’s version almost all ready to go (just working on the final touches this weekend!). We approached Sheldon Neil, an awesome young television personality out of Crossroads TV, and asked if he’d like to be involved, and he jumped at the chance. He’s so great on camera, and he’s cool, too, so I think boys will see him as an awesome mentor. And what Sheldon really put into the boy’s version, too, is how to grow godly character in those years.
When I first met Sheldon–he interviewed me for Context TV
Sheldon Neil, the host of “Outside the Box” on Crossroads TV
So we thought, in preparation for The Whole Story launching next week, that I’d survey a bunch of people who are part of To Love, Honor and Vacuum behind the scenes and ask them: “What was the worst part about puberty for you?” And we got some great answers!
And I’ll start with myself:
This is going to sound weird, but the worst part was feeling like I was grown up, feeling like everyone around me was grown up, feeling like no one understood I was grown up–but not actually being grown up and not able to admit that to myself. I just didn’t know so many things, but I thought I did. And I wasn’t mature enough to be an adult. But I thought I was supposed to be one. I just didn’t give myself permission to be a kid anymore. And it made me way too serious and boy-crazy too fast.
Sheila Gregoire
Blogger, Author, Speaker
Puberty as a whole wasn’t that hard for me, but it was embarrassing because my voice was cracking–and I talk so much! And even though my acne wasn’t that bad, when I did get pimples they would be huge and right on the tip of my nose. I went through life feeling like Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.
Keith Gregoire
Doens't work on the blog, but is an amazing doctor, Plus he's Sheila's husband!
The worst thing about puberty is that, honestly, for a solid two years I was really really ugly. It’s like my nose ears, and nipples grew first, and everything else took a long time to catch up. And to make matters worse, at the time I was trying so hard to dress like an adult–but I wasn’t thinking, “Cool, hip 18-year-old”. Nope, I wanted to look like someone in her mid-thirties. I wanted my fashion choices to say, “I have a mortgage, four kids, and a labrador retriever.” I was a 12-year-old who loved tweed. It was a rough few years.
Rebecca Lindenbach
Host of The Whole Story, author of Why I Didn't Rebel , Plus she's Sheila's Daughter
I’ve never really thought that Rebecca was fair to herself! She’s always talking about how ugly she was, but that’s honestly not how I remember it.
Rebecca remembers herself like this:
But I remember her like this:
But then, I’ll always be her mom! 
