It's not a criticism, it's an observation.
Dealing with puberty
Mike Cox

My new best friend is having a tough March. Quigley is going through puberty and is pretty confused. Around President's Day, I noticed a little more macho posturing. This was a minor annoyance until his playmates both became promiscuous, the way dogs do. He has been a mess since then.

Quigley gets yelled at and has no idea why he's in trouble. Instinct is hard to overcome. One day he was trying to get frisky with one of the females; she turned on him, and the other one joined in the attack. Girls can be vicious sometimes.

Anyone who raised sons or remembers what it was like to be a teenage boy, can relate. I also spent most of puberty confused. As it is with most boys, the deck was stacked against me. All I had were raging hormones and a couple thousand years of instinct to draw from. The girls I was dealing with were miles ahead of me and every other boy I knew.

The first female who put me through the ringer was named Terry. Her parents owned a couple of stores in town, and she was worldly beyond my years. I remember her braces and that she laughed at me.

Every boy who ever lived goes through this, but a lot of parents today don't remember what it was like. On one hand, kids are sheltered and kept in the dark. On the other hand, they are treated like perverted freaks for acting naturally.

A young Florida couple was recently arrested for using the internet to distribute child pornography. They did what a lot of 17- year- olds do, which was legal; Florida doesn't outlaw such behavior if both parties are underage. But they emailed souvenirs of their episode to each other, and now both of them are sex criminals; not for what they did, but for using the information highway to brag. They will likely spend the rest of their lives branded and in therapy.

Quigley just wandered around confused until his two little roommates became normal again. One day they were playing innocent games with each other, no cares in the world. The next thing my dog knew, the girls looked different to him, he was fighting urges, and kept getting in trouble without knowing why.

The same thing happens to most boys. One day we are all just kids, the next day we're at war. And no one will tell any of us what to do. We are supposed to act like nothing is happening until we are married, then miraculously become all- knowing.

I am still wandering around confused where the female of the species is concerned. Women always stay one step ahead. When a man gets a clue, the rules miraculously change.

Although most of us are confused, the system must work pretty well; there are a lot of humans populating the planet. I have even partially forgiven Terry. Although I do hope she still has braces, and ended up with a mutt.