Applause for the Menopause

We would all rather we didn’t have to go through this stage of life and for some it can be brutal but here’s a few thoughts in its defence!

Applause for the Menopause

The benefits of menopause? At first glance there are few.
It’s Nature’s way of saying ‘No more offspring. Ever. You’re done.
I’ll dehydrate and mangle you inside and out
Until the curtain closes on you.

But wait a minute. Stop and think. Although right now you feel sad
That your youth has been traded for ageing
And you mourn the loss, grieve and sob –
‘Why do I feel such a rage inside? I think I’m going quite mad’……

For every loss there is a gain, as I’ll try and make you see.
The pressures on a young woman’s life are many.
Babies can mean no sleep for what may seem like forever.
Demonic toddlers too slow to grow up. ‘When they start school I’ll be free’.

But you have to work outside the home. How else can you afford child care?
You’re mortgaged up to and over your head, too tired to even look at your man.
‘There are so many things to think about and to do around here.
Why doesn’t he take his share?’

The dreaded ‘monthlies’ you’ll be glad to ditch. Years of discomfort, pain and distress.
Your mood swings up and down and round and round.
You snap and snarl at the slightest thing
And too bloated to fit into that dress.

All these things will pass in time because time, in the end, wins the day.
The kids will grow up and have kids of their own,
And so the cycle of life goes on.
Your kids will ask you to look after theirs while they go out and earn their pay.

But now you must tell them: ‘Sorry dears, no can do.
We’re on holiday for the third time this year.
We’re wrinkled old crinklies but we don’t care.
We’ve earned this time. One day you will too’.

We’re hostages to our hormones. All our lives they dictate how we spark.
We have no say in the status quo so be prepared to laugh at life,
Be thankful that the past is past.
Grow old gracefully with head up, in the light.
It’s better than dancing alone in the dark.