Opinion – Hidden Under The Covers

Everyone is getting engaged, married or pregnant and I am over here trying to figure out my taxes.

Its been two year since we have spoken about this topic. By we. I mean me. And by speaking. I mean writing. If you would like to read the first part of this post click here.

But in those two years a lot has changed. For instance, I am now 22. I can now poach an egg and host adult dinner parties. With alcohol, on a Monday night.

Whilst my life has been taking a roller coaster of a ride, my friends have too.

Some friends will never be any of the things in the description because they were taken from us. Whilst some friends have ticked off all three in the space of a year. What surprises me is how many people it is happening to. At this rate, I feel I will be old by the time I finally get married, or announce that I am with child ( LOL, never thought that would be written here)

Now this post by all means is not a downer on those who are engaged, married or pregnant. You, do you. By all means. But I feel like once again I am well behind on the rat race we call life. Now I say this because this morning, another couple yet again got engaged. And another couple announced their new baby boy on Facebook. Kids I went to school with are getting their pre engagement photo shoots. And I am over here trying to not burn my mouth on a cup of tea.

It’s a funny situation because I often get told that I am mature for my age. That I seem more 27 than 22. Yet I feel I have been let down by society and our education system. Because I feel I don’t have the right set of tools to be my age.

There is no class on how to pick a husband/wife/life long partner in school. We don’t have any information on how to make one of the biggest decisions of our lives. Yet people are surprised when we have such a high rate of divorce. My ex boyfriend is in the middle of his divorce and he is 24. He’s twenty fucking four people.

There is no one handing advice out to a 16 year old on what sort of financial situation you should be in to sustain a good life WITH a child. There is not one telling you how much you should be putting away for your retirement, let alone a house. There is no one saying how important a prenup is.

I feel I am becoming more and more infuriated with our education system and how it doesn’t teach you how to do your taxes, or change your oil in your car. I have always had the opinion that our education system is great in some aspects and absolutely bull shit in others. I had a math teacher who taught me how to work out hire purchase and that it is also not a good idea. I had a teacher who taught me how to iron any garment – properly and a teacher who taught me how to type. But then I also had a teacher who taught me that mushrooms reproduce with spores and that haikus make me a mad mad kid.

There is no class on budgeting that every student should have to take. Why not continue health class to life class? Ponder this: no one teaches you what abuse looks like.

Look I love the fact my best friend is getting married and is having a baby boy in 8 weeks. I can’t wait to be there to hold her hand as she becomes a mother or cry my eyes out when she becomes a wife. I am proud, happy, over the damn moon for her. I know she is ready. Beyond ready. Her and her soon to be husband are ready for this next step in their lives. Together.

Claire, if you are reading this. I am blessed to be your best friend. To see you take these steps. Keep growing Mr. Peanut, and I promise on your big day to fight your mother and all your family for baby sitting duties. I promise like we said that I will always be your best friend no matter what happens to each of us.

But people. Listen. Do not freak out. I mean freak out by all means about not knowing how to do your taxes. I AM. Jesus I mean I have to deal with ACC as an independent contractor. You don’t want to do that. Yes, every week people are buying engagement rings and baby booties. Its a scary time when everyone around you is getting engaged, married or pregnant and you are single or just in a relationship with no intention of doing any of those things for at least a few years. I laugh when I think back to being married at 25. Its looking more and more like 30 people. Things to do, places to see. But being married I guess doesn’t stop you from doing that. It does however give you a best friend to do it with.

And that as an idea doesn’t seem that hard to swallow.

All my friends are engaged, married or pregnant and I am over here trying to poach an egg.

For all of you who are not engaged, married, or pregnant. Trying to adult. You are not alone.

Just so you know, this isn’t my poached eggs. Stolen from the internet. Food porn.

So I rolled out of the hospital last week after three nights surrounded by 3 ladies drugged up just like me. I came home with discharge notes, medical certificate and a prescription. As soon as I got home I realised in my haste to get out of there (I don’t like hospitals) I had left my teddy there. Yes laugh, my teddy. His name is teddy and he has been with me since I was born. Knitted when I was still in the womb he means a lot to me. Jamie brought it up to me on day two of the hotel from hell to soothe me through morphine doses with a dash of tramadol. So I had to be an adult, ring the hospital and ask them to find my teddy.

Hospital 1, Seren 0.

Now I am 20… 21 is October. Young, sassy and still growing. I was scrolling through my Facebook when another one of my friends was now pregnant.

Thoughts?

No.
Yep.
13 weeks.
January.
No drinking for you.
Do we have cider in the fridge still?
No alcohol for two weeks. Doctors notes.
A tiny human.
ALIEN.
Baby tracker is kinda gross.
Babies.
Why?
OH SHES ENGAGED TOO.
What?
When?
Scans Facebook profile.
TO HIM?
No.
Yep.
Wow.
We went to primary school together.
I thought I was on track.
What is life?
What am I doing?
Should I be worried?
Yes.
You are well behind.
I don’t want kids for a long time though.
I am 20.
Biological clock though?
IM TWENTY.
Lots of time.
15 more years at least.
I still haven’t seen most of the Disney movies.
I am still a child.
No young adult.
I couldn’t handle a poop machine yet.
Adult, that I am.
I lost my teddy.
Not even close to taking care of another human.
I want a cat.
Yep.
Kitty.
Could I get a cat in my apartment.
No.
Random cat flap that goes out to nowhere just 6 floors down.
Right.
Okay.
F**k.

*scrolls newsfeed more*

ARE YOU F**KING SERIOUS.
YOU ARE MARRIED TOO?
YOU WERE JUST ENGAGED
THAT WAS A SHOCK.
Cute dress.
Only one photo for me to cry at?
Why?
You are my age and married.
Have you seen the world?
Who is he?
Oh yes.
He was with your friend for a while.
Never liked him.
Good luck.
No I am being sincere.
Adult Seren.
SH*T, GOD DAMMIT.
Why?
Where are you going?
What is your life plan?
Do I need to be engaged?
No.
HA.
No.
Thank you.
*Hisses at screen*
Should I save for a house?
I haven’t left NZ yet.
Need to finish my degree.
Oh lord.
I am not at uni next year.
Out and about.
LIVING.
Thats okay.
How do you adult.
I can do it.
I am doing it.
Eggs.
Poached.
How?
Googles how to….poach eggs.
Heck yeah I can do this.
Poaching like a boss.
TO THE KITCHEN AND BEYOND!

*quietly sings to self about not being married, engaged or pregnant. With a dash of freedom*

Just saying I can poach eggs. They were delicious. Two of them.

I have so many questions. Why is everyone engaged, married or up the duff? This is the new normal. There seems to be a wave of people I know who are advancing and ticking of the appropriate adult things. I mean my ex is now married to a girl 6 months older than me. When I found out he was engaged to be. I laughed and almost made a t-shirt saying “dodged a bullet”. Almost. But now he is apart of the normal and I am over here eating avocado and eggs on toast trying not to get it on my white shirt.

Truth of the matter is growing up so quickly freaks me the f**k out. Bills, food shopping, cleaning and maintaining the life I have with my significant other is stressful enough. Throw in University, work and the fact that our elevator is not working again makes me anxious. Just so you know, I now own a blazer, blouse and two sets of dress pants. TWO. I also have business cards. WHAT MORE DO YOU WANT FROM A 20 YEAR OLD?

It looks like a ducks bill.

I am going to assume that most girls know what the topic line is about. You can laugh at that. You men can just continue reading. I have just finished writing a 1200 word essay on Frank Ocean and in my deep, panic thoughts my mind was tossing between taboo topics and societies stubbornness not to accept or talk about it.

Sex.

Hehe.

There is many topics that come along with sex and I thought I might do a series on it. Everything from contraception to society’s inability to talk about it. I am just going to start an open discussion. Open a door and leave it jammed there. Letting the information flow. I have to write a disclaimer that I am in no way a doctor or know 100% what I am talking about. I am going to talk about MY experience. Personal and raw I thought it would make for good reading. So if you find yourself thinking about anything I have written and want to know more. I might be able to help but you should go to your doctor because they are the ones who trained their whole life to help you. I am here to let you know that you shouldn’t be afraid of the topic of sex and ALL that comes with it. So shall we start with the topic of contraception. That wee gem.

Also I need to add this, if you read this and find yourself judging me. Close the door, walk away. This little community doesn’t need you. There is no judgment here. Never will be. So if you can’t handle this topic that’s okay. Stop reading. I write this because I received a very concerning email. Anonymously written it told me in great deal that the topics I confront on MY blog are not appropriate for society. Like I have stated before and as I wrote back to that individual. I am thankful for your opinion, it lets me know that people are reading hiddenunderthecovers. If the title of this blog didn’t give it away there is always an exit button. I am no way holding you here against your will, shoving this down your throat. I will bring topics to the masses that I think needs confronting. This is through a personal and not politically correct way. I swear and write how I think. Don’t like it? Click that stunning red button at the top of your screen and go back to where you were before I hurt your feelings.

SO. Contraception.

It should stop you from getting pregnant. Which is what most people are looking for. Babies are cool. I just don’t want them for 10 years thanks.

Where should you start?

Guys. Buy condoms. You can get a prescription for 144 of those bad boys. For $5. You are welcome.

Talk to your doctor. I had the issue that my doctor was someone I went to when I had a cold not when I wanted to have sex. So I went to family planning but in Nelson its called INP (independent nursing practice). Lovely ladies in there. You can just go in and chat with them about anything and ask all that you want. These people careers are based around people having sex. They know what’s up.

What should you consider?

MANY THINGS. When deciding on what you want to do you will be asked a whole bunch of questions. Family health history, sex history, and even period questions!

What am I on?

I was on the pill for a while (years). I had about 7 different types of “the pill” and discovered that my body doesn’t really like extra or blocking hormones. So I went off the pill for 3 months. It took my body 3 months to figure out how to be a body again. But I discovered that because I was on such a high hormonal dosage I was literally a crazy woman. I had gained weight and turned into this horrible creature. So 90 days later I had lost some of my weight and my thoughts were now clear. What I had been thinking about was the fact that I now needed to get another form of contraception. Either the rod (the little hormonal stick in the inside of your arm) or an IUD (the weird-looking fish-hook that goes in your uterus) and whilst neither of those seemed appealing neither does a baby.

So I got an IUD back in 2012. It last 5 years and it has no hormones and my body and me seem to like one another. Despite my mother protest she doesn’t want another grandchild.

People do ask about what I have. Curious I guess.

Can I feel it? No.

Did it hurt to get? Feels like a cramp and there is slight discomfort but it’s over in 5 minutes.

Do I recommend it? Yes however talk to a doctor because they know what’s best for you.

How long does it last? 5 Years and you can get another one straight after.

What have you noticed since having it? Well I don’t seem to be as fat any more and much less a crazy woman. I also can see a cycle of woman stuff happening.

Downside? Pretty strong cramps. Nothing a heat patch and panadol can’t fix.

Can my boyfriend feel it? No.

Does it cost? Yes I can’t remember how much but under $100 for me. Cheap over 5 years.

How does it work? Foreign body object. The body think my uterus is not a safe place to grow a baby and the copper kills the sperm if there is any breakage with a condom. THIS IS MY INTERPRETATION. There is a hormonal version on the IUD.

Can you feel it? No.

Don’t you become infertile? There has been no conclusive study of this.

What I would really like everyone to know is that talking about contraception does not mean that you are having sex. It is used in all sorts of ways to help with health. It would be really lovely to remove that stigmatism around contraception. It is no longer “birth control” but a choice.

At the end of this week I am going to release another episode from this series (it’s a goodie) and I have to say sorry for not having a blog post for the past two weeks. University has been crazy.

How to get over your ex boyfriend.

Ah what a topic. Like a burn and a paper cut rolled into one. An ex-boyfriend is weird. The whole idea that you go from being fully committed to someone, knowing who they are and what they are doing to strangers in a week.

Now if I ever have children, I hope that they are strong enough to get through heartbreak and all that comes with it.

I was talking to a friend of mine about a week ago when he asked me “how much do you think you have changed?” I was walking home and standing at the lights I personally didn’t think I had changed that much. But thats the thing. I had changed. If not changed then grown. When I met this young man I was completely broken. Whole heartly ruined. I was heartbroken.

I was 17. Young and eager. I went from being a girl who was happy to being a dark energy going through the motions. When this young man met me he saw me go from my worst to the woman I am today. He said to me that I was “a girl dangerously close to throwing it all away.” And I was. Thats the thing about being 17 and in love. There is not point in which you say to yourself to stop giving. You pour your life and soul into someone else without thinking and when it all ends you can only say it was half your fault because you couldn’t stop yourself. You fed a demon called a relationship until you ran out of whatever it ate and it all fell apart. So where do you go from there? You are broken, empty and well shit, you just want to sleep for forever.

This is what I suggest. No matter how it ended.

Take a nap. Lie the heck down and curl up for a few hours.
Turn your phone off. The world will be there when you come back.
Cry your eyes out. This won’t take much. Place cold flannel on eyes. Thank me later.
If you ended the relationship remind yourself why. You made this decision for a reason.
If the other party ended the relationship then remind yourself that it wasn’t meant to be and the universe has a much bigger and better plan for you than him.
Take a long shower. Not a bath.
Find an animal. Cats are great but anything that you like. Could be a bearded dragon. You don’t know.
DO NOT GET ANGRY. This will not help.
Take some deep breaths.
Make a cup of tea. You won’t feel like eating.
Tell your parent. By simply saying “Me and _____ are over and I would really just like a hug.”
Tell your parent that you are not ready to talk about it if your not. You will just get angry at their questions.
Make a nest. Blankets and tissues.
Then clean your room. Its like hitting reset on something in your life.
Contact a friend and let them do what they do best and be there for you.
Have some alone time but not at 3am.
You might not sleep so write what you are thinking about.
Go on facebook and do the deed of ending the relationship. Make this unseen. Don’t be that girl.
Do not talk to other person for a few days. See that you can survive without them.
Go out on a big walk with your friend. The wild does wonders.

Look I have been through all the motions and it bloody hurts. And the one piece of advice I can give you is to give time, time. Nothing is going to make it go quicker. You just have to keep going and you can do that. You do not need them to live. What I also must tell you is that there is no ‘moment’ when you get over an ex. For every single person it is different. It may just be a day you didn’t think about them or no emotion towards them. There is two things that no one told me when I was 15 and about to have a serious relationship for the first time. 1. you will leave a bit of you with them and you can never gain it back. 2. you won’t give yourself to wholeheartedly to another person until they deserve you.

May I leave you with telling you that you are amazing. That you exist because you are the perfect distance from the sun with a body that has a beating heart and working functions. You are more than you could ever know and this will not hold you back.

From a mother duck to her ducklings. I am here if you need me.