Mom and Intro to Periods

I was lucky enough to get my first period on the very last day of 8th grade. (I didn't experience much embarrassment, and didn't have to go back to school the next day.) All I knew was that my stomach hurt, and I couldn't eat my lunch. I laid down in the nurse's office for a while. When asked if I was feeling better, I of course said no. Then the nurses proceeded to ask a few questions, and they figured it out. At that age I knew what a period was, and much more. My elementary school had already did the whole puberty education of all "of age" girls. However, my mom didn't talk to me about it much.

So, they gave me a pad to wear, and I eventually went to my last class. I felt like I was walking funny the rest of the day. When my mom got home from work she started to wash the dishes. When I got the courage...I walked up to her and said, "I have something to tell you!" However, my courage ended there. So, I ran and wrote it on paper and folded it.

With wet hands, she unfolded it, and read. She gave a pleasant reaction, but I had expected more. I had been waiting for my period for ages (You know, the usual...I want to grow up NOW!), and it seemed like a pretty anti-climatic ending. She said she figured that's what I was going to tell her.

I wish that my mom had talked to me more about it and all things puberty related. Even now, I'm seventeen and going through the usual problems. I could use a bit of help. However, I still struggle to find that courage.

My advice is to talk to your daughters about ALL of it, and often. Form a close relationship early, because it's a lot harder to get them to listen and to talk when hormones have taken them over.

My mom needed help. She gave me some pads and from there I had to wing it.

My mother was obsessed. She could not shut up about periods. She told me about them starting in about the first grade. She ALWAYS announced her menses to others. When my sisters and I started ours, she announced ours too. She didn't explain why, or how often, so when it kept coming back, I was really mad. I was lucky to have my older sister, she explained things much better. When I have daughters, I will definately explain everything to them completely and normalize their feelings! My daughters will not be humiliated by me telling everyone something that is not their business. However, I will let her decide what special thing she wants to do to celebrate her womanhood.

To be honest my mom didn't mention the "P" word in the house. I was very young when I got my first period and also very scared. I thought it was the end of the world. The first person I told about my period was my English teacher. She walked me down to the nurse's office where they answered all my questions and told me about other changes that would happen to my body. Being a daughter & now a mother I plan on explaining body changes to my son. I feel that if my mom would've told me about certain things maybe I would be much more closer to her.

My mother got me all the literature she had as a child. She saved it just for me. I got to read about it and THEN learn about it in school. I wasn't surprised to find that the same things she taught me at home were what the school reinforced. When my time came, we all cried tears of joy *except my father, who was overwhelmed with his first born being a WOMAN* She did a fabulous job. I can only hope I do as well if we have a daughter.

The first time I had to wear pads was several years before I got my first period, and that was because I had accidentally fallen on a broken plastic crate and had given myself an accidental episiotomy. lol It wasn't until 5th grade that I found out what they were really used for, when all the 4th and 5th grade girls in the school were gathered together for a presentation on puberty and menstruation, and given a booklet that was written as a journal of a girl learning about periods and getting her first one. I don't remember my mother ever talking to me about what to expect, though we've been very open in talking about them since I got my first one.