Julie Metzger, MN, RN. Photo by Holly Andres.

The first time I menstruated, I knew exactly what it meant: that I could never go swimming again. I don’t know how I squared this idea with the fact that older girls and women were always in the city pool when I went there. Illogically, I was convinced I was now doomed to living without my favorite summer pastime.

A couple of years earlier my mom and I, along with most of the girls in my class and their moms, had nervously attended the school nurse’s annual lecture to fourth grade girls. Apparently, “no more swimming” was my garbled take-home from that event.

For preteen girls only, and their mothers.

Today, nurse Julie Metzger tackles misunderstandings like this with lively presentations about puberty to preteens and their mothers. She and her work are profiled in “Great Conversations: A Nurse Tackles the Puberty Talk” (free until March 28) in this month’s AJN. Metzger combines humorous props (a maxi pad stuck to her shoulder) and storytelling to talk about body changes, the opposite sex, decision-making, and friendship.

Metzger’s goal is not simply to share facts; she wants the experience of parents and kids learning and having fun together to enable more comfortable and honest family conversations about puberty and sex in the future.

“The first thing I want them to think is, ‘That was way more fun than I thought it was going to be… We just heard the same information together; let’s continue that conversation in the car.’”

A program for boys as well.

After years of successful workshops for young girls, Metzger teamed up with a physician who specializes in adolescent medicine and they began offering programs for boys as well. Their wildly popular classes have reached more than 16,000 people in the past year alone.