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AIBU?

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Original poster

...to ask a question about who buys your sanpro?

177 replies

LadyPlumpington · 12/08/2015 16:02

TAAT, sort of.

Posters were saying that lots of men buy their wives sanpro and are totally unfazed by the topic. Is that generally the case please?

It's never occurred to me to ask DH to do that, ever, partly because I'm a better judge of what suits me and partly because....well.....he's a MAN. My dad would have been mortified at the very suggestion that he buy such things for his wife or daughters, and in the intensely patriarchal country we lived in, he'd have been looked at very oddly by the pharmacist.

What happens in your house?

OP posts:
fourtothedozen · 13/08/2015 22:57

Just to say OH prefers to buy his own razors- for very similar reasons.

BrowersBlues · 13/08/2015 22:58

My dad who is now mid-80's always bought our sanitary towels when we were young. He had 4 daughters and was a modern man way back then. Back in the 70's we used to say to him get some 'sanitary towels dad'. We used to call them STs. Nothing phased him. He is still going strong and is still a modern man!

WaxyBean · 14/08/2015 03:57

I buy them but only because I do all the shopping in our house. DH has had no problem buying maternity pads, nipple shields and breast pads in the past so I assume he wouldn't blink an eye if I asked him to get tampax.

LionessAtHeart · 14/08/2015 10:52

DH often gets them. He knows brand I just tell him how many 'drops' on the front of the packet I need.

He also bought all my maternity pads and breast pads for me (I was house bound).

I find it odd that some men do get embarrassed.

PrimalLass · 14/08/2015 10:59

I really hate the term 'sanpro'. That's all.

FyreFly · 14/08/2015 11:06

I like to buy my own, usually from Boots because a) they usually have good deals and b) then I can get points. Or use points to buy! I tend to stock up for a while as well rather than buying bits and bobs as and when needed :)

FyreFly · 14/08/2015 11:07

Also buying my own means I can avoid the scented ones! What weird fuckery scented pads are...

MrsMook · 14/08/2015 11:10

I'd normally get them while shopping. DH has been known to get them if required with specific details about the product required. Not really an issue now as I'm now using washables and a mooncup.

He's bought maternity pads and breast pads. Early in our relationship, was sent on a mission for Canesten. He ended up passing his phone to the chemist!

Motortrader · 14/08/2015 11:25

I always get for them for DW, if only because I do the fortnightly Sainsbury's run, while DW shops locally.

A question: I've noticed that women shopping in the same aisle will often hang back or walk away until I am done, returning moments later to collect their sanpro stuff - some are obviously uncomfortable shopping for tampons while someone else is there. Does this just apply if it's a man, or do women notice this too?

RabbitsarenotHares · 14/08/2015 11:41

I don't think I ever asked DP to buy them for me. Not because he'd have an issue with it, but I would always have at least two or three full boxes in so never needed them in an emergency. And we'd always do the weekly shop together, so if I needed some I'd just throw them in.

I would throw the bag from the bathroom in at him if he was going out to start a fire. He knew fine well what was in the bag but was never bothered by it at all.

These days I use a Mooncup and washable pads. I did ask him if he'd mind taking clean pads out the washing machine and he looked at me as if I were mad. He has no problems with this sort of thing at all. Would probably throw dirty ones in to the machine for me as well if necessary.

Dreamiesrcatopium · 14/08/2015 11:44

DH. Exclusively. For the last five years now. He works near Home Bargains and things like this don't phase him. He also buys my make up, tan, takes on line bought clothes back abd exchanges inatore, finds jewellery by description etc. I'm disabled so it is not often I can get into town. I'm not taking advantage I promise! I do realise how lucky I am though and there have been some funny moments along the way when the poormans just been too bewildered with my requests and purchased something odd!! Anyway, tangent, apologies!

partialderivative · 14/08/2015 11:48

I used to play rugby for a college side back in the early 80's.

I am truly shamed to think of one particular song we used to sing called 'The tampax factory'

It was truly appaling and had such witty and memorable lines as 'You can tell things look red when she gives blow jobs instead'

Looking back I think we thought we were being a a bit on the edge by singing about a 'taboo' topic.

Of course, we weren't, we were being dicks.

I really hope attitudes have matured a bit it those environmenst and that particular song is not heard anywhere these days.

Pericombobulations · 14/08/2015 11:49

DH will willingly buy them if I have run out, doesnt bother him at all, my dad was the same buying them for mum or me as needed.

CoodleMoodle · 14/08/2015 11:51

I do a weekly online shop and get them with that. DH would buy them for me though, as long as I gave him very detailed descriptions of what I wanted as he wouldn't want to get it wrong... Fair enough, I suppose.

Looserella · 14/08/2015 12:08

I have a Mooncup so don't buy them but it once came to light that my husband believed 'mini', 'regular', 'super' etc referred to the size of a woman's vagina.

FryOneFatManic · 14/08/2015 12:20

I buy the bulk of the toiletries in our house, along with the shopping, so this includes sanpro. DP would buy it in an emergency, but as I do the bulk of the shopping, it's generally me.

I use a mooncup now, but DD, aged 15, has a preference for a particular supermarket own brand towel (of the brick-like variety), so I tend to bulk buy hers as I don't use this supermarket very often.

Sanpro is kept in the bathroom, in a set of open mesh drawers, so open to everyone's view.

DS, aged 11, is unfazed by it, so hopefully he'll be fine in shopping for sanpro if required.

I've come across some terrible stories of how women have had to deal with periods from older friends and also from threads on here, and I hope we're moving away from that crap.

mrspremise · 14/08/2015 19:21

No one, because I have a Mirena and haven't had a period for 8 years Grin Grin Grin Grin Grin Grin Grin

ConfusedInBath · 14/08/2015 19:37

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

MiddleAgeMiddleEngland · 14/08/2015 19:38

It's usually me, DH wouldn't be at all bothered but I wouldn't be sure he'd come back with the right ones, even after a lengthy description!

A while ago the man in front of me at Waitrose was unloading about a dozen boxes and packets from his trolley onto the conveyor belt. He just rolled his eyes and said "It would have been much cheaper to have had sons, wouldn't it?"

Catonthematwiththehat · 14/08/2015 20:12

I never tend to think to buy it from the supermarket - I usually pop into Poundland or boots to grab some on my lunch break/ after work.

I would have no issue asking DH to buy it for me though and have done. One particular time we were on a different continent in a country where it really wasn't standard for a man to be buying such things. The man in the third pharmacy he tried didn't have a clue what DH was asking for so he tried to mime it while saying something like 'not pregnant, no baby'...they thought he was asking for an abortion! I did eventually get my tampons.

Shockers · 14/08/2015 20:52

Whoever is going to the shop buys them.
If we run out (there's DD and me), DS (15) has no problem going for them.

roundandroundthehouses · 14/08/2015 21:05

Usually me, as I'm the one who does most of the supermarket shopping. But there's no issue at all with asking dh to bring me some.

DameDiazepamTheDramaQueen · 14/08/2015 22:24

Confused - more than 30 years ago, it's not a new phrase.

BertieBotts · 14/08/2015 22:36

I don't very often buy it as I usually use a mooncup but if I needed it then DH would buy it and not be embarrassed. However I usually prefer to buy it myself because he'd just go for the first kind he saw and I like particular things, which aren't always easy to specify because the different names change by brand.

FannyFifer · 14/08/2015 22:54

My dad used to buy tampons for me when I needed them, was never a big deal, he did the shopping so would check if I needed them.
DP is the same, although I mostly do the shopping. I have sent him on an emergency tampon mission on a few occasions though, no big deal.