Your first period...?

[LightofaSilveryMoon]

A usual Sunday morning.

But.... usually, I had a bath on a Sunday night, but that day, I really felt like having a bath in the morning,

And after running a full bath, I took my pants off and discovered a huge blob of blood in there, soaking through.

I showed my bloodied pants to my mother. She appeared flustered, then gave me a pack of Dr White pads; and neither of us ever ever mentioned it, ever, again.

Any other women's experiences of first period?

We had "the talk" in the last year of primary school when I was 10/11. When I went home DM "Well now you know all about it, I'll put a pack of towels in your drawer, just use them when you need". No personal talk, no birds and bees, she left it all to school to teach me. The pads sat in the drawer for about another year before I started, quietly, unannounced. DM didn't do talking, but she did work for a chemist, so I never had to go and buy towels myself - she just bought me a pack every month, put them in my room.

Best think I remember about "the talk" was that it was girls only, and we came out of the session with a pink leaflet about periods. It was the end of the school day, and I left the leaflet on my desk whilst I went to get my coat and bag from the cloakroom. When I came back the boys were gathered round, looking at the leaflet; and the girls were saying "How could you, how embarrassing". I was quite blase about it, and replied "Well they'll need to know sometime if they're going to have girlfriends and wives", I didn't see menstruation as any kind of taboo despite my Mum's reticence to talk about it.

I was 14 and had found out about periods from girls at school. My mother never spoke of it apart from a mortifying day when she said 'are you ready, you'll be doing this soon' and threw a used sanitary towel on our coal fire. I was disgusted.
I felt tired and achey one Saturday while at home with my dad, she always met my auntie for the afternoon and brought home fish for tea. I was supposed to lay the table and butter bread. I started bleeding and laid on the bed all afternoon feeling crampy and when she got in she went crazy saying I was lazy and miserable and my poor dad had been on his own and had had to get things ready for tea. I yelled back saying 'actually if you must know I've started my periods'. She instantly changed to kind and concerned but I just turned my back on her. I felt like she wanted her moment of mothering, her rite of passage. I refused to speak about it and denied her that. I despised her.

My sister was in the bath when I went in to use the loo (sounds weird but we were an all female house with only one bathroom, so grew up not worrying about nakedness)

Anyway she saw the blood in my pants and said I should tell mum. I was to embarrassed to, so she shouted at the top of her voice I'd 'started'. My mum panicked that she had no products in for my but sister had some tampons in her bag so I used them.

Nothing traumatic but felt a bit of an anticlimax, when sister had started a couple of years previously she had been give half of boots to try and it was made a big deal of. Always felt a bit robbed not to get the same.

SpartacusVonWaitrose

Has anyone read Artichoke Hearts, by Sita Brahmachari? It's a wonderful book, with a storyline that includes the main character getting her first period, staining a special piece of clothing. Her grandmother is a feisty left-wing feminist activist & artist. Can't recommend it enough, for adolescent girls (and boys) and for mothers!

I'm sure you mean well but this sort of seems the other extreme of saying periods are shameful and must not be talked about- it's saying they are not shameful but it takes a story book and a feisty left wing feminist activist to explain them.

LassWiADelicateAir, it's not a story book. It's a novel. It's a coming of age novel. A popular genre of children's fiction but most of the classics in it are about boys. Those that aren't don't mention periods, despite periods being a rather important feature of girls' growing up!

The period is used in a symbolic way. The grandmother doesn't explain or exploit or even know about it. The story is mostly about the main character's process of emotional separation from her parents and grandmother as she enters a new stage of development.

It's a wonderful book. I could say more but it would spoil it for potential readers.

Avocado bathroom, not sure at first what was happening, and a mother who didn't mention it ever again... Check, check, check

I'm glad I was late (at 14). So knew all about it. Still sat on the stairs in tears cos of the cramps. Poor DD is only 11 - though I had already told her all about her all about it. When her her dad offered to get to get her a hot water bottle she refused and cuddled up to her dog and got the heat from her. #StaffiesRule

And now im bored of them...its been years!!!

Mine mostly behaved themselves and didn't give me grief, but I kind of miss them now they are gone. It's like a way of marking time has also gone.

I fainted - I did this for the next few too. Apparently the same happened to my Aunt so it may be something in the family. I was 12 when I started them. My early periods were long, painful, bloody affairs I was put on the pill to help with them. I knew what it was though so there was no fear of them as such, they were just unpleasant.

These days I have the Mirena - I still have the PMT symptoms (including the delightful loose bowels!!) but far less bleeding (sometimes none).

I must say as a teen having read 'Are you there God it's me Margaret' I was overwhelmingly relieved we didn't have to bugger around with belts and the like.

All my friends started before me so i knew the ins n outs but hadnt experienced it myself.

I started at school and used tissue folded to stop the mess and pondered for the last 2 classes how to tell my mum.. i dont know why i was so scared to tell her..we had spoken about it. But apparently i chose the angry approach. I got home from school, got changed and launched my stained trousers by the washer and shouted "these need washing" and stormed off to my room. She came up when she saw with a cup of tea and a hot water bottle and all was discussed and well

She appeared flustered, then gave me a pack of Dr White pads; and neither of us ever ever mentioned it, ever, again.

LightofaSilveryMoon Are you me?

Mine was much the same as yours OP, except I yelled for my (younger) sister and she went and fetched mum.

Ive reported your post jolly

I cant figure out who you are taking the piss out of but its not very pleasant

I've reported it too.

It is either genuinely wildly transphobic (mocking the miniscule number of trans women who try to fake a period, who frankly deserve sympathy not mockery) or it is to stir up trouble

It was a week after my 11th birthday, and I was going ice skating with friends. I was in my parents' en suite and called my mum in, who made sure I knew what it was and gave me a pack of sanitary towels. I thought I was very grown up and remember whispering about it with my best friend on the ice rink later.

Absolutely lass