What Do You Do When They Are Old Enough to Shave: Venus $50 Visa Card Giveaway

It's such a poignant moment when you realize the baby girl who you swear was wearing frilly diaper covers and Mary Janes yesterday, suddenly starts to get hair on her legs. It’s one of many firsts that seem to hit me harder than the boys' firsts.

It shouts that my baby girl is growing up.

What happened to this little girl?

And please tell me when did this happen?

Then the inevitable comes. Sooner than you realize or are ready for, the,"When can I shave my legs, Mommy?" question arrives.

For my very girly, always wearing pink daughter, it was way sooner. Waaay sooner. Too soon. My husband comes from sturdy Eastern European stock, and my daughter takes after him in that regard. He is hairy, and so is she. We all know what that means.

Yes, while my two blond boys had freckles and sparse blond hair glinting on their legs, baby girl got thick, black hair she could almost braid on her legs. Of all the things you want to inherit from my husband: his intelligence, his height, his organizational skills or his naturally thin-toned body and high metabolism, his hair was not on the top of the list.

Poor baby girl.

This was at four years old. At the time, there was even concern of early onset puberty which our pediatrician was watching closely. One family member got her period in 1st grade, and we worried about serious complications if baby girl followed her path.

Luckily, that did not occur, and she hit puberty just recently, but oh my the hair. The hair!

At the time, I scoured the net for when it was appropriate to let girls shave their legs. As a competitive swimmer even then, she stood out. By age six, kids were starting to notice and comment on her legs.

In the end, to head off teasing and her distress, we gave in, and I agreed to shave her legs every couple of months to keep it reasonably shorn. We wanted her to have a positive experience in school and swimming, and if that meant starting so young, so be it.

With any physical difference, kids can be cruel and shaving seemed a simple enough solution...well except shaving a teeny, tiny leg attached to a wriggling body ended up with plenty of nicks and scratches. Plenty.

Fast forward six years, when most girls are starting to shave, my baby girl is a pro. She took over from her awkward mom by 8 years old when her Daddy equipped her with her own razor and shave gel…designed for a man. Not exactly the tools to make a girl feel feminine.

So when Venus sent us their Satin Care Passionista Fruit and Embrace razor in the mail, the excitement from my 12 year-old was palpable. Finally, we had products to make her feel beautiful and feminine.

I am not embarrassed to admit we both oohed and ahhed over the sparkly peachy-pink tinted shave gel and its yummy fruit scent. I told her she could have the gel and razor, but I admit I wanted to keep the gel for myself.

Venus says the rich formula, infused with the sparkling scent of juicy, fresh fruit, leaves your skin soft and satiny smooth every time you shave. I think I might have to get my own to try it out. I know baby girl is one happy customer.

We were happy with the razor too. I wish it, with its ribbon of moisture which ensures a smooth shave, had been around when I was bent over shaving those tiny legs. With its FIVE blades and soft-gripped handle for no-slip control, it glided smoothly. It was also clearly designed for a girl. No more manly razor for her. Isn’t it purty?

I think all women love to have beauty tools that make them feel feminine and this razor certainly hit the mark.

In the end, figuring out how the deal with these personal choices of when and how to initiate conversations and negotiate choices on our children's firsts are highly personal and up to each family.

I’ve mentioned on my blog and on other places on the internet that my daughter started to shave at six. There are some aghast at our decision as if we were Toddlers and Tiaras types. There are others that applaud my sensitive mothering by putting my daughter’s feelings before my own notions of what age was appropriate.

I think we as mothers at one point all finally realize that we have to do the best we can and work for the solution that works best for our children, don’t you agree?

How about you? Share a tip for tackling tough "firsts" conversations with your kids to be entered for a chance to win a $50 Visa gift card, courtesy of BlogHer and Venus.

Rules: No duplicate comments.

You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:

a) Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post
b) Tweet about this promotion and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post
c) Blog about this promotion and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post
d) For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.

This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older. Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.

The Official Rules are available here.

This sweepstakes runs from 5/21 - 6/30.

Be sure to visit the Venus Brand feature page on BlogHer.com where you can read other bloggers’ reviews and find more chances to win! If you have a first-time shaver in your home, you should check out some of these great tips from Venus Embrace!

Yay for Venus!!

'lisciously scribed by Heather Murphy-Raines @ 4:00 AM