Wednesday, May 14, 2014

Changes

A couple of weeks ago my 4th grade daughter and I went to a presentation led by a school district nurse about changes - yes, puberty. Even though I've told my daughter about having your period and we've covered sex - or as she calls it "the gross thing" she was a little nervous. Girls sat on the floor in the library, Moms sat on chairs behind them.  

The nurse talked on a very basic level about menstruation, puberty and hygiene and showed a movie where a young girl gets her period at a slumber party and has to go to the friend's Mom for help.  She followed up the movie with a q&a.  There were quite a few questions and a lot of nervous giggles.  I was proud to see that none of the questions asked were ones we hadn't already covered at home.  

On the walk home, I asked her if she had any questions.  She said, yea, but I wasn't going to ask some lady I never met.  So I asked her if she had any questions for me.  She had a few like does having your period hurt (the nurse kind of glossed over that one, probably since they can't give out ibuprofen from the nurses office.  I told her cramps can hurt a bit, but for me Advil took care of it). She got a little sample kit of pads which I told her I could give her a more subtle bag for to have in her back pack.  

As for most girls, she's a little nervous about her first time.  Will she leak?  Will everyone know?  I've already told her that though my sister and I had our first two years apart we were at our grandmothers house each time.  Considering we only saw her a couple of times a year, that's pretty crazy.  My sister was wearing white shorts (so Mom had to go to a nearby store to pick up a new pair of shorts).  I happened to be wearing black jeans so dealt with it when I got home.  You never know when it's going to happen but after a certain point, it's good to have supplied with you.

She asked a little about tampons, which I admitted I don't use (only because I've never really had a problem with pads), but told her that most people I know use them so when the time comes she should try both and use whatever she prefers. 

With all the talk about light colored clothes, you would think I would have been smarter and not worn a brand new pair of white pants during my most recent period, but I did. I had an event I wanted to look nice for, so wore one of my Stitchfix outfits (including white pants).  Well, I got a little stain on my pants.  My daughter came into the bathroom when I noticed it, I asked her to get me a new pad from the other bathroom - the one I was in didn't have any.  She did, and then I told get what happened and told her about the wonders of hydrogen peroxide. I took the pants off, cleaned up the stain, soaked them for a while in detergent before washing, and now they are good as new.

She's learned a lot in a short time, and while her actual period is still probably a couple years away, she's pretty well prepared.  


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