Naomi Watts turned a potentially embarrassing situation into a teachable moment for her kids.
The 57-year-old All’s Fair star, an activist for women’s perimenopausal and menopausal health, spoke to People at CNBC Changemakers Summit in New York City on Thursday (April 16) when she recalled the time her children discovered a bottle of lubricant in her bedroom.
“I do remember the first time on of my kids saw lube in the bedroom, and they were like, ‘What?’ And I said, ‘Yes, yes, you know, by the way, lube is sold at Urban Outfitters now.’ And they’re like, ‘No way, no way!’”
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She clarified that it is a “real thing” and said the “stigma is reducing,” but thinks speaking about women’s health is important.
“Why doesn’t the education start as early as sex ed in sixth grade? It’s just part of the story,” Naomi added.
She shares son Sasha, 18, and daughter Kai, 17, with ex Liev Schreiber. When the topic of menopause arose, Naomi remembered one of them asking her if that was “when old ladies die.”
Another thought it was when you wet the bed.
“I said, ‘Do you know what menopause is?’ Because they’d heard me on the phone many times say the word,” the Mulholland Drive star recalled. “And one of them said, ‘Isn’t it when you wet the bed, Mom?’ Because they’d crawled into bed and I’d had night sweats, and not really wet the bed, but, yes, the bed was wet.”
Naomi‘s own struggles with perimenopause led her to the founding of holistic beauty company Stripes Beauty. She began experiencing the symptoms after having her second child and has often spoke about navigating menopause in her late 30s.
Earlier this year, Jordin Sparks generated some criticism when she publicly asked an A-list actress to read her script about menopause.
