“Mom, do you like taking enemas?” I must admit that for a few moments, my daughter’s question had me without words. She was 17 at the time. It was about 3:30 in the morning. Long story short, she was constipated without telling me and having gas pains. She had awakened me, and we were sitting in the kitchen, and I was heating water for mint tea to try to settle her stomach.
For the first time, posed with this question from my oldest daughter, I answered it flat out. Actually, I do, I told her. She asked me if it made me feel good, and I was honest with her. Yes, I told her, when I take an enema, I do it to feel better physically when I’m having intestinal problems, and sometimes it helps me emotionally. Then the bomb dropped. Does it make me have sexual feelings? she asked. Yes, it does sometimes, I admitted. But I remember telling her that if she needs to have an enema, and if those feelings happen, they are perfectly normal and she shouldn’t feel otherwise.
Looking back, I think it was the right thing to say at the right time in her life. Today is Jen’s 32nd birthday. She is a healthy, vibrant young woman, and she has an enema bag.