What it’s like when puberty and perimenopause are under the same roof

Jennifer Gerson

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At a back-to-school pool party for my fifth grader in August, I nearly leaped across the patio to accost a group of moms talking.

“Perimenopause,” I heard. “Puberty,” I heard. “So much crying,” I heard.

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I ran up to this group of women — some of whom I knew, some of whom I didn’t — and said, “Can you roll this whole tape back and start over? I need to hear it all.”

More and more moms joined this crowd whispering poolside to commiserate about how hard it is to parent a daughter going through puberty when you yourself are going through perime

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