Mom and Intro to Periods

I don't recall my mom ever having "the talk" with me. But in fifth grade we had a puberty class and were given a booklet about what to expect and I read that religiously haha. I didn't start until I was 14 and was one of the last ones in my class to start. But I called my mom and she seemed kinda excited, and I called my grandma who picked me up from school, and the nurse sent pads with me. I was kinda embarrassed, but kinda proud at the same time. When my mom got home she told me that I could use her supplies under the sink. And asked if I understood how to use tampons, but I was embarrassed and said yes even though I didn't. I actually didn't use a tampon until I was 18.
With my daughter, I will definitely prepare her. When she begins to get boobies, I will get her a training bra and explain she's growing up and this is the first step. Next she'll start getting her period.

Mom never talked to me about periods or sex or anything like that.
I woke up with my period one morning and told her(I knew what was going on of course) and all she said was: Oh this will happen to you for around 20 years, you just put a pad on when it happens.

It was just awful. I will do things way differentely with my own child.

I love my mom, the only thing about her i would change, is how she dealt with periods and sex, everything else I know (looking back) she did for my own good (though hard to see at the time). She used pads, so she thought i should, she refused to buy me tampons, because they weren't comfortable for HER. My first experience with tampons (i bought myself) was awful, the beginner's pack didn't explain it correctly, so I ended up with the cardboard still on, and inside me (ouch). I figured it out about two years later, but until then it was a tramautic experience (lucky for me my periods never were regular.) When i have a daughter, I will do things VERY differently and be more open with her about tampons and pads, etc.

My uncle brought me up on his own, and as compassionate and approachable as he is, this topic apparently made him EXTREMELY uncomfortable. Consequently, a close female friend of the family was recruited to give me "the talk." She just took me out for a girls' day and laid it all out for me while we painted our nails and watched chick flicks. If not for her, his plan his plan would have basically been to leave a book about menstruation in my room and never speak of it. A couple of years ago (I'm 20 now), he told me that it wasn't so much that he was uncomfortable with the overall idea, he just thought that it was a really important topic for me to have the right understanding of, and he was afraid that if he handled it wrong, it would have screwed me up or something. Poor dear.

i AM now in my late 30's but got my period at age 13. Older then my 2 sisters. I knew what a period was really from my older sisters my mom said it was gift. I tell you its no gift in my eyes. i got it at camp and was so embrassed. I told my councler who helped me I think she was only around 18 or 19 herself. i could not go swimming for she gave me pads not a tampon. my mom looked sad that she wasnt there when it happened but if I ever have a daughter by age 11 I will make sure she will know what to do.

My mom didn't get a chance to talk to me about becoming a woman. I guess she figured she had more time but as it turned out she didn't. I was 11 and on a Ski Trip with my Dad, a couple of his friends and their sons. I felt kind of funny so I made a trip to the restroom and sure enough, there it was, my first period. I had no idea what was happening to me and I got up the courage to tell my Dad, (away from all the boys my age of course.) I'll never forget the look on his face when I told him. I mean, I had no idea what it was and was starting to freak out. He gave me some money to go get what I needed out of the machine in the bathroom and promised me that I was going to be ok and everything would be explained to me soon but for now I needed to go take care of my business and be a big girl for him so that the boys wouldn't ask too many questions of me. When we got back to his friend's house I found that my Dad had mentioned something to him and they got me extra supplies from his wife's cupboard and as soon as she got home, she gave me the talk. Soon after that my mother called to check on me and when I told her she sounded really sad and said "Yeah, Steph told me. I'm sorry honey, I thought I still had time to tell you." I'm going to do everything I can to make sure that when I have daughters of my own they don't have to get the talk from some other man's wife for sure. Haha.