First, I shall tell you more things about this mother nest. Although
it and the tiny ovules are growing all the time, yet there are greater
changes in them when the girl is from twelve to fourteen years old.
About this time they grow faster than at any other time. As these organs
grow, the pelvis, or the part of the body that contains them, also must
grow to make room for them. So the hips begin to grow broader. Other
parts of the body grow faster at this time, too, and often some parts
grow so much faster than others that they are out of proportion, and the
child becomes clumsy and feels awkward. But that will not last long,
for after a while the parts that are growing slowly will catch up to the
ones that grew fast, and then the body will be graceful again. Have you
ever watched a young puppy? You know how clumsy and awkward it is while
it is growing, but after a while, when it is fully grown, it will be
very graceful.

We know it is not wise to run or play or work hard right after eating a
large meal, for then the stomach is working very hard and needs a great
deal of extra energy, so the other muscles must rest a while, in order
to let it have it.

You remember, I told you, Violet, that every month, or every
twenty-eight days, there was an extra amount of blood carried to the
womb which it had to send out of the body. Of course that requires the
womb to work very hard for a few days, so, in order to help it, we must
be careful not to take any severe exercise at this time or overexert
ourselves in any way, for, if we did, the womb would not be able to
do its extra work properly.

You remember, I told you this flow, which we call the menstrual flow,