Bloody puberty. My 11 year old son has started puberty. For the last couple of months he has insisted on giving me a weekly viewing of his pubic and underarm hair growth! He's got the hygiene thing going, costing me a small fortune in deodorant sprays and after shave. But now we have the weepies and the poor body image. He's put on a bit of weight and he came out of the bathroom this evening crying 'oh Mum, I'm so fat', then burst into tears and curled up in my lap. Oh boy, this is going to be tough!

At least you're keeping the lines of communication open

... to everyone!

I'm sure he'll feel much, much better when you explain to him that you're sharing the joys of his puberty years with all us understanding souls on BE!

Best not, don't want another hissy fit!

Bit young for a boy, innit?

Sounds like my daughter though I guess she was 10. I'm trying to savour the years with my youngest until she hits that age.... it's like your sweet kid turns into a possessed demon overnight!

The demon is now more reasonable at 14 but she'll never be a sweet little kid again.... the youngest is my last and I'm going to have to start hanging out with my one-year-old niece to get a fix.

Within the range, younger end of the range. But he's 5ft 4in tall, that puts him in the 95th percentile for a 12 year old and off the chart for an 11 year old. Size 11 shoes too! They laughed me out of Kid's Foot Locker years ago!

Well..... at least being tall and having big feet aren't as much a challenge for a boy as they are for a girl.

Oh, no. He's tall and quite the looker. The girls have noticed but he's still oblivious. And the big feet? Well, you know what they say about that!

Yeah, but keep him working on that jump shot and one day kiddy foot locker will be begging for him to come back and sign his branded of sneekers!

What you feeding him on CalBride?

You need big shoes?

I have an almost 12 year old daughter, I think she's been going through puberty since she was about 3

are you supposed to give marks out of 10 or something?

Poor lad, next thing he'll be asking you for is membership of a gym!

Wow! She must have a lot of body hair...

Teenagers should be locked away at the first signs of puberty and not let out until they can manage at least five minutes without grunting/whining/screaming/crying/moaning/complaining life isnt fair.