Is it weird to honor the first time your daughter gets her period?
I’m not talking about holding a rave or hanging a pinata, but the event is a kind of passage for girls. And it seems like it might call for… I dunno, something. But what?
A friend of mine — the mother to three now-teenage daughters — took each of her daughters on a sunrise hike up a mountain. Another bought her girl a special charm for her bracelet. I’m not sure either or those things are quite my style, but I can appreciate the gesture.
When I got my period for the first time, I didn’t tell my mother for days. In truth, I had no idea what it was, and I was more perplexed than worried. When I finally mentioned it, she nodded knowingly. Later that day, a box of Maxi-Pads appeared in bathroom. When I opened the box, I was horrified: Each pad was about the size of a twin mattress: How was I supposed to accommodate that?
Later, my mother asked, “Did you find what I left you?” “Yes,” I replied. And that was the extent of the only conversation we ever had about it.
I have a different relationship with my own daughter. I’m sure that’s true of many of us here — and in the larger world, of today’s parents in general. Times have evolved since then, too. Which brings me back to my original question.
So what about it? What will you do, or what have you done? How does it compare with your own experience?
Photo credit: evelynishere
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