AIBU to have sanitary products on display?

[Howvery]

And by on display I don’t mean on a golden stand under a spotlight but on a shelf in my bathroom.
We have had friends and there DC (dd 8 and ds 6) to stay this weekend.
I have a box of tampons and packet of sanitary towels on a shelf in the bathroom. I went in and noticed they weren’t there, after hunting found them in the cupboard under the sink with the cleaning products, I put them back on the shelf. Just assumed it was DH who has form for throwing things in the nearest cupboard when ‘tidying’. Went back to the loo later that day and noticed again they had been put in the cupboard.
I went back in the lounge and said to DH, can you stop putting my stuff away in the cleaning cupboard. That’s when friend pipes up ‘oh I moved them I don’t think it is appropriate for them to be out especially where the DC can see them’. I was quite perplexed by this, but carried on the rest of the weekend, sanitary products hidden away as to not scar the children.

AIBU to think this is a totally bizarre way of thinking??? Firstly it’s my bathroom, can have things out if I want and find it rude that someone would put them away but secondly to think it is inappropate for children to see them, especially as she has a DD who is 8!
It’s a silly thing but the more I think about it the more flabbergasted I am!!

Yanbu

This is totally mental. You're friend's head needs a two-time wobble, first for teaching her children that sanpro is something to be embarrassed about and second for having the audacity to move things in your home. How bloody rude!

*your

I would have put them back out and said they are where I want them to be. She just doesn't want to have to answer questions that she thinks are 'difficult'. For heavens sake, if children grow up with something as a fact, not a secret, it makes life so much easier! Its your house - do what you want.

The cheek!?? Did you challenge friend?

Should have laughed hysterically and called them out on that nonsense.

No one hides loo roll. Is that because men use it?

Mine live on a shelf in the loo. I don't care who sees them. DS knows what tampax are and has done for years and isn't remotely interested.

Weird behaviour. My 2 year old often follows me into the bathroom and opens up the cupboard asking "you need tampons?". Never once thought that him knowing they exist might corrupt him

Exactly. I was laughing with DH earlier wondering what on Earth she does down the toiletries aisle in supermarkets.

I tend to hide mine after the tampax incident of 2014

DC1 decided to tip a whole box down the toilet and flush it
I didn't even have a plunger in the house

< not envy

She's weird and rather than rude/bossy. It's your house. They were clean, wrapped and unused I assume!! 😁

Gosh I wonder what else might scar her PFB and PSB if they set eyes in outside packaging?! Perhaps she hides her loo rolls too?! And others' knickers must be kept in a locked safe?!! You did well not tell her to stop being so weird and precious and to leave your bloody stuff alone!!

We have the soil pipe from the loo boxed in which makes a handy ledge to keep my packs of towels and spare loo roll on.

No,

YANBU. It's perfectly normal to have things you use in the bathroom visible in the bathroom. It's not like dangerous medication or something. What does your friend expect to happen? One of the DC ask what they are? Might they not do that going round the supermarket? There are plenty of age appropriate answers. Arguably, treating female bodily functions as a shameful topic is unhealthy for children. Your friend sounds a bit mad.

Also, bang out of order for rearranging your bathroom. She could have asked.

Do you think she covers their eyes when in the supermarket and near that aisle!!
YNBU
And she probably made them notice them more by making such a ridiculous fuss. I doubt the dc even noticed

That's crazy. I've always had mine out on a shelf. I have two dds and think it's good for them to see them around the place and the first time they see a sanatry product isn't the day of their first period!!

Dd1 and i share packets anyway, so they're out where anyone can access them.

Haha offtobedhampton yes definitely unused lol, and I wonder. Funnily enough we haven’t been to there house in ages, next time I go I’ll be looking for where the loo roll is!

I have closed cupboards in bathroom with everything in.. Gets take out when in use.. Ie wash stuff etc and put back.
But when sanitary stuff is needed they're on a little basket next to the loo for the duration they are needed I'd go mad if someone needed them. She has a dd8.. Couple of years and could potentially need to get them anyway

Her dd8 could need them in months herself. What silliness

Make a table decoration or a wind chime out of them next time she visits!

I think it rude to keep moving your stuff if she is visiting. However I think most house I have been to/visited would not have them out on show. Most people would put in a cupboard just because they are not that attractive to look at.

I think she is a bit over the top. Mine have always been "on display" and DC never showed any interest in them.

The days are long gone when women had to hide away when they were menstruating. My dad is of the generation where men don't talk about "womens things", but I have never hidden them from him in my own house.

Next time, make a proper display, maybe on a pedestal, with a spotlight and twinkling lights all around them. In a lockable glass case, so she can't move them again

Hahaha @usuallyinthemiddle yes excellent idea!!
But yes in all seriousness it is scary that her DD very soon could be needing them and she is growing up where this is a taboo!

This is MN so they should be proudly on display so that everyone can see them every single day surely?

But in my world they live in the bathroom cupboard. Don't like clutter.

That is so weird! I leave pads and tampons on a shelf, mainly so that if a female guest gets caught short she can take what she needs!

I feel sorry for her DD if she is so uncomfortable with her even seeing these things. You'd hope by the age of 8 her DD would be fully aware of what they are and what they are for. She is going to get a hell of a shock when she does need them if no one has warned her, poor kid.

Not at all, I have a pack of tampons on the window ledge in the toilet downstairs, it's at the end of the kitchen, so you can see the box when you're in there, and my ds used to follow me into the toilet when he was smaller and asked why I use them. Unfortunately these thing are not a luxury to most women, so it shouldn't matter if they're in veiw in an appropriate place, but like bathrooms and toilets. Ignore your friend, maybe her son will how up to be like that bloke that said women should just hold their periods in till they get to a loo :/ boys should be told about periods too.