What she talking about her sons for in Menopause Awareness Month? I hear you asking. Well to be totally honest this is a post I've been faffing about with in my head for a couple of weeks. I had never heard of National Sons day until recently. Celebrated on 28th September, it struck a cord being a mum of two lads. It made me think about our relationship, of course I love them unconditionally. But as they grow older and begin to make their own way, I realise how proud I am of their achievements and how they inspire me to strive for my own ambitions.
One of my ambitions is to get fit. Woah, I know you've heard it all before. But at the age of fifty five it's becoming a reality that it's not just about cutting out my breakfast and doing a couple of sit-ups. (Believe me, cutting out the breakfast is fine, attempting a sit up with this ready made medical ball on my gut is proving somewhat problematic) The thing is both of them the Oldest and the Youngest are physically fit. In the last eight months the Oldest has just completed his third marathon and the Youngest has become a Personal Trainer with his own clients.
Meanwhile Pilsbury Dough Girl over here keeps putting it off uttering her current affirmation... Manyana, Manyana.
As a Pub Landlady I can often end up doing ten thousand steps a day easy, its just not the right type of keep fit thou is it? I've now got to the stage of my life I need to stop taking my body for granted and start to look after it. Perhaps its Mother Nature, reminding me its about time I started mothering myself and give my body the attention I did my off spring in their developing years.
This is a huge revelation for me, I've just always told my body what to do and she done it. Recently thou she's kind of got the hump. For example I seem to be getting more aches and pains in my hips, a friend told me months ago to do some simple stretches. Have I done them? Have I fuck. Totally ignored him and now my hip wakes me up most mornings nudging annoyingly as if to say. "That one thing, you couldn't do it could you? All the things I've done for you over the years, one simple stretch. Cheers Dough Girl"
So, I'm going to take a leaf from the book of my sons and concentrate on some type of well being program, which I will undoubtedly share here. National Sons Day made me think of other things too, my work on menopause campaigning through the show. It dawned on me I never really spoke about my symptoms or how I felt with my family at the height of my menopause. I just tried to find a way to muddle through, emphasis on mud here. Because that is how it felt, wading through mud day after day. And yet, my sons know a great deal about the menopause. The youngest simply said the other day "Well we saw the show mum." Now believe me I don't get every single symptom I talk about in the show, I'm just not that greedy. But the reassuring thing for me is, it worked. This simple statement proved education can be woven through a comedy tapestry to become something of substance and referral. I learnt a new term over the last couple of years called Edutainment, educating whilst entertaining. It seems the the brain takes on new information far more easier when laughing and engaged. I always seem to remember the lecturer or presenter who made me laugh, in turn the information they passed on at the time. Because as I am discovering, our brains drops it's guard and says "Come in let me have a look at all this info you're passing on." I mean its all subjective of course, but it would be a very boring world if we all thought the same way. The important issue is we're considering the information given.
There is no doubt in my mind men need to brought into the menopause conversation, why on earth shouldn't they be? I can't think of any relationship in the world that doesn't not include the interaction somewhere a long the line between menopausal women and men. Mothers, guardians, aunties, grandmothers, employees... there is of course an endless list. If we can talk about puberty and pregnancy with ease isn't it about time menopausal conversations are brought out of the dark age and into the light of this century
So as Menopause Day 2022 approaches I've got a new spring in my step and a fresh attitude to health. I've just got to find the dog and give him a walk and of course my body.
