iTampon- thought of this before I saw the chatter!

Last night as the kids were finishing dinner and I was cleaning up the dishes at the sink, Son #2 disappeared from the kitchen and reappeared with something in his open hand. He held it out to me and said, "Mom, what's this?"

A purple piece of plastic shaped like a lipstick tube rested in his hand like a wounded bird.

"It's a used tampon applicator. Please put it in the garbage and go wash your hands!"

He stood there looking at it, and then me, and back to the applicator again. "Will you please do as I say and go throw it out and wash your hands. Where did you get it, anyway?"

"I picked it up off the ground on the way home from school."

My Son #1 shouted out, "It's been in a girls' VAGINA!

My Daughter, not yet menstruating, but familiar with the topic shouts, "ewwww, gross!!"

I realized I was treading on thin ice as far as respect for the female body goes, so I said, "It's not that women's bodies are full of germs, but it's been on the ground, so please, do as I say and throw it out and wash your hands."

Such is the curiosity of a Middle School boy. Son #2, still holding his prized possession that aroused everyone's curiosity and emotion said, flatly, "I thought that's what it was."

I offered, "If you were so interested to see what it looked like, you could have just asked me, and I would have gotten a tampon and showed it to you. You don't have to pick up garbage on the way home from school to learn about these things."

He didn't respond, but finally threw away his treasure-hunt prize. Today, via the internet, Apple is helping him learn about the advantages of such feminine hygiene with iPad--slim, easy to carry, absorbent, user-friendly, convenient and apparently, easy to trash.