Tag Archives: girls

Menstrual Hygiene Day 2015

Today, May 28, is Menstrual Hygiene Day.

So what? It’s an important day because #MenstruationMatters and so do women and girls the world over!  That’s what!

MHD serves as a neutral platform to bring together individuals, organisations, social businesses and the media to create a united and strong voice for women and girls around the world, helping to break the silence around menstrual hygiene management. How will you be showing the world that ‪#‎menstruationmatters‬ to you? Society for Menstrual Cycle Research

For more about Menstrual Hygiene Day and #MenstruationMatters check out the following links.

How will you make a difference, period wise?

Back to School – Period Wise

The count down to the first day of the 2014-15 school year has begun.

Back to school shoppers are filling the local stores as parents and children select school clothes and classroom supplies.

On the list of must purchase items should be period supplies if you have girls who could start or have started to menstruate.  And, along with period supplies should be a period pack for school – something small and discrete, yet big enough to contain necessary products and an extra pair of panties.

Back to school period wise thoughts follow.  (Additional thoughts are welcome!)

It’s estimated that 3 in 10 girls have begun puberty by 8 years of age.  Most girls will experience menarche as tweens.

With this in mind, it’s period wise to be prepared and the best way is to have a period pack handy at school (either in the locker, backpack, or purse).

Any small bag will work. Ex: A small makeup bag is perfect for holding a few liners, pads, or tampons, as well as an extra pair of panties.

If your daughter has not yet begun to menstruate, make sure she knows what to do in the event she starts.

If your daughter is new to menstruation, having a plan in place and her period pack with her will ease the transition from home to school and will calm any anxiety she may have as well as prevent embarrassment should her period arrive unexpectedly while at school.

If your daughter is a period pro and feels ready to move from pads or tampons to something more exciting (like cups) encourage her.  Periods often fall on weekends and holidays – what better time to learn the ins and outs of cup use!

When it comes to girls and menstruation, it’s best to prepare for the unexpected. Sometimes you just never know, and if she’s prepared, she’s confident.

If your daughter has already begun to menstruate, make sure her school period pack has a day’s worth of product plus 1.

If she has not yet started, make sure she knows what to do if she starts her first period while at school.

Also, help her have a plan in place in the event that she doesn’t have her period pack, or forgets to bring more product to school and suddenly discovers she needs it. She needs to know what to do in just such an emergency, and who to go to for help. (School nurse, school counselor, teacher, friend)

If your daughter has begun to experience vaginal discharge or expresses concern that her period may start, liners are terrific little confidence boosters.

Leaks are a big concern.  Have an anti-leak plan and a contingency plan in case she does experience a leak.

Talk through different possibilities with your daughter and come up with a plan for each.

If possible, before school starts, walk through the school with your daughter – visit the restrooms and look for receptacles. She will need to know what to do with used menstrual products.  (Flushing is not an option.)

Preparation is the key, period wise. And, it can make for an awesome, confident start school wise.

Living Life As A Girl – Giveaway

If you’ve ever wanted to try a sampling of various and different menstrual products, the opportunity is now. 

The mastermind behind Living Life As A Girl, is planning a giveaway of a huge sampling of pads, liners, tampons and wipes.  If you’ve ever wondered what a particular product is like, chances are you will find it among the giveaway goodies she will be offering soon.

Who is she? I’ll let her words speak for her.

When I was about 12 I realized that I loved helping girls. I was always giving my friends advice. Also most girls came to me if they needed help. I started a YouTube channel because I like to help other girls with any help or advice they might need about all girl stuff.

Does she have any period wise advice for girls? Oh, yeah! And, her advice is spot on.

A piece of advice I would give to girls my age would be to talk to their moms if they are feeling scared or need anything.

Check out Living Life As A Girl‘s Giveaway video – be sure to subscribe to her channel and stay tuned for more info about the giveaway!

Why You Should #ConfidentCarry

Look around you – who watches you?  Who sees you day after day after day?

Who are you influencing?

Yes…influencing.

Are there girls in your life…girls who see you, watch you…learn from you…pattern their habits, thoughts and attitudes after you…?

What are you teaching them as they watch you?

Oh…they are watching you.  Of that you can be certain.

Society tells girls every day that menstruation is shameful and that if anyone knows they are menstruating…they should be ashamed.

What message are you giving the girls in your life? within your sphere of influence?

Do they see you conceal carry your menstrual products?  Do you provide them with instructions on how to conceal their own?

Have those within your circle of influence ever seen you #confidentcarry menstrual products – openly, within sight…visible?

If not…why not?

What does your choice to conceal carry tell them?

What would #confidentcarry say to them?

Step up. Step out. #ConfidentCarry tomorrow, #May9.  Do it for the girls.

Make Your Own Happiness

Sometimes you have to make your own happiness.

Yes, you do.

When was the last time you bemoaned…anything? (an event, a relationship, a happening, a loss, a lack, a disappointment, a frustration, a hurt…menstruation, hormonal changes)

How much time did you spend griping about it? How much effort did you invest in your expressions of discontent?

My guess is that more time, energy and activity was spent bemoaning (whatever it was) than on finding happiness.

Now, I’ll agree with you. Sometimes it’s hard to find that little sparkle when the sparks fly.

Laughing is difficult when you feel more like groaning or crying.

It’s hard to smile when the gravity of a situation pulls your smile down into a frown.

It’s natural (and, at times, helpful) to invest emotional resources on that which eats at us.

But, when negative things and thoughts consume us, we find it difficult to recognize and accept the positive.

That’s not beneficial to our well-being and it indicates a need for action on our part.

What do you do when you can’t find one tiny glimmer of positive within all the negative?

Here’s what you do. When sad frowns have you down, turn one upside-down.

Seriously! Choose one part of the whole and look at it…differently.

Make your own happiness.

Happiness doesn’t just happen you know. It springs from an attitude of gratitude.

Now, look back at the image that played in your head when I asked, “When was the last time you bemoaned…anything?”

Find the sparkle. Look for the tiny glimmer. Turn a frown upside-down. Find something you can feel positive and good about.

Make your own happiness – especially period wise.

Gifting the Girls in Your Life

When you gifted the girls in your life this holiday season, did you give a gift that keeps on giving? a gift that will provide opportunity to learn? a gift that will encourage growth? a gift that will support  acceptance of and appreciation for who she is? a gift that will assure her that body literacy is good…positive…necessary?

Information opens the door to knowledge and knowledge applied is wisdom.

How have you gifted the girl in your life…period wise?

Life Before Puberty

Do you remember what it was like before you began to change?

You know…before your body began to respond to the hormonal surges that turned you from a child into an adult?

How much do you remember about the carefree body of your childhood?

The NPR piece set my mind to thinking about my own experience – not only with puberty and the changes it brought, but before.

Before – when I was just a little girl and my biggest concern was what Momma would have for dinner and if I would like it.

As a late bloomer, I had many more years of carefree body life – far more than children who enter puberty at 4, 6, 8….

But, try as I might, I found it difficult to remember what it felt like to live in a prepubescent body.

Oh, I remember the fun…there was a lot of fun. From daylight until dark, days were filled with fun.

In the summer I ran around shirtless like the boys and thought it wasn’t fair that I couldn’t pee on a tree like they could.

I remember the last time I allowed Mom to bathe me, but not how old I was.  She was always careful to make sure I was clean and her manicured nails scratched my delicate skin as she washed between and within. I’d had enough – “I’ll do it myself,” I insisted.

Surely I could part and wash between and within that part of my anatomy far better than she. My fingernails were short and my fingers small. A quick swipe with a soapy washcloth was all I saw a need for.  I had no idea there were folds and bits and pieces of me that were unseen and needed to be clean.

Apparently they weren’t aware either.

My mother had breasts. So did my grandmothers and aunts. And, my female adult neighbors did, too.  In fact, all the women I knew had breasts. They were evident on their chests…bumps or humps or lumps that protruded and got in the way most of the time, especially when they tried to hug you, but they sure did make nice pillows for sleepy heads.

I had a chest.  No breasts on me. And, as far as I knew, no breasts for me. I was a girl – not a woman.

My grandmother once told me, “One day you will have some, too.”

My reply was “No, I’m a girl – I’ll always be a girl and girls have chests…they don’t grow breasts!”

Free to be and at ease with my body, I had no problem being naked…in my backyard, in the wading pool, in the tub, with my family…with my friends. Why would I need clothes?  Why would anyone?

And, why would anyone want to cover up what they had? I knew there were rules that applied to how people dressed and acted, depending on where they were and who they were with.  I didn’t know what social norms were but I knew what was accepted by my parents and expected by others. I just didn’t know why…or care why.

Until a friend who was three years older than I visited me for a day of play.

On previous visits, at the end of a long summer day of play, we had jumped into the bathtub together and splashed away until Mom declared us clean. The only difference in us was our ages and height.

This visit, as daylight dwindled, I was left sitting on the porch while my friend bathed.

“Why can’t we get a bath together like always? Why do I have to wait? There’s plenty of room for us both!” I whined.

Mom said, “She wanted to get a bath by herself this time. Sometimes girls want privacy.”

Privacy! That’s what people asked for when they were in the restroom stall and little kids peeked under to see if the stall was occupied.

Why would my friend need privacy to get in the tub?

“Is something wrong? Is she mad at me? Why doesn’t she want to play in the tub with me?” I quizzed mom.

“One day you will understand,” Mom said. And, with a kiss to my furrowed brow she left me to ponder her words.

And, ponder I did. It was a great mystery and I would be the great detective and set about to discover why it was my friend preferred a boring bath alone to a continuation of playtime.

So, I did what any great detective would do…I tried peeking in the bathroom window. And, yes, Mom caught me before I was able to solve the thing that puzzled me.

And, now, here was a new thing.  My mom was guarding the privacy of my friend and keeping me from her. Surely, I had done something horribly wrong and upset my friend, causing her to reject me and the friendship and openness we once shared.

Our friendship did change from that point onward. I didn’t understand the change until years later, of course, and assumed I was the cause of it.  I mourned the loss I felt and hated the walls that were erected between us.

Age became an issue. I wasn’t “old enough.”  Again…I didn’t understand.

It wasn’t a matter of age.  It was a matter of maturity, of puberty. My friend had become self-aware and sought to hide herself in a cloak of privacy.

I, on the other hand, had no such encumbrances. I had no such burden to bear. I was free to be – me.

There was nothing about me that I thought to hide. My freckled face…my chest…my arms and hands…legs and feet…there was nothing scary about them and no need to hide them.  Everyone had them, except for women, who had breasts and there were laws about letting those bad girls loose in public. I knew…my dad had told me so.  And, I could see why there would be.  Those things could be dangerous…could poke a kid’s eye out or get tangled up in the steering wheel or worse.

I felt sorry for my friend, and for other friends as well, who lost their freedom to be and enjoy unburdened days of childhood. Mom’s words would come to me time and again, “One day you will understand.”

That day came rather unexpectedly. I had stepped out of the tub and was drying myself when I felt soreness on my chest.  And, it seemed the soreness was directly centered under one of my nipples. There was a lump there. My chest was swollen a little there as well.

“MOM!” I yelled, and she appeared instantly in the bathroom door.  “I think I hurt my chest today.  I must have run into the corner of something.”

Mom moved in for closer look.  “Ouch!” I said as she touched my chest and put gentle pressure on the tender lump.

“Are you certain you ran into the corner of something? This is directly beneath your nipple,” she stated with an odd look of concern on her face.

I didn’t recall hurting myself but I had been quite active that day and anything was truly possible and I told her so. “Do you think I have…cancer??” I asked her.

“No…and I don’t think you injured yourself either,” she offered as she felt the other side of my chest and asked, “is that sore, too?”

I shook my head “no” and assured her it was just the one side.  She nodded and said we would keep an eye on it but she was sure it was nothing to worry about.

(NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT?  REALLY?)

Over the next few days I watched and waited for a bruise to rise to the surface but one never did.  And, the lump didn’t go down…it got bigger and even more tender.

Instead of going shirtless, I was instructed to keep my shirt on.  And, not only that, but I was given an undershirt to wear as well.

It became shameful to be shirtless.

Suddenly I became self-aware and sought to hide myself and my body.  I was embarrassed and confused.

Something was wrong.

And, I was alone.

All of my peers had moved on years before and those I now played with were younger than I and wondered why I had become aloof and secretive.

My grandmothers delighted in the fact that I as “growing boobies” and said so…to me. And, they also said that I was “becoming a young woman.”

“GROWING BOOBIES??!!!???  A young WOMAN?  ME???”

For the first time in my life I wished I knew curse words.

And, I wished I were once again 3…4…8…10 so I could throw a tantrum and act my age…the age I still felt at times…when things weren’t all mixed up and felt so weird.

“Now that you’re becoming a young woman” became the most hated phrase anyone could say.  Why?  Because each time I heard it, it spelled the end of one of my childhood pleasures.

Grow up?  Me?? For what reason? I was fine just like I was, thank you very much. Become an adult? A woman? A Mommy? Um…why?

For the first time in my life I saw growing up as an obstacle to being me.

From my earliest memories, when someone would ask me what I wanted to be when I grew up I would say “a doctor…a nurse…an explorer… a writer….”  Becoming an adult was not even on my radar and certainly not on my horizon.  I saw no need for change…or to become.  I would just be.

And, I would be…me.

And, when asked what I wanted to be when I grew up, I began to answer “free.”

Free to be me – that’s all I wanted.

And, now, it seems that I’m coming full circle.  (No, I’m not taking off my shirt and running around the neighborhood half naked – laws haven’t changed.)

I’m rediscovering the me that existed before becoming encumbered with the burden of “becoming a woman.”

Do your girls a favor –

  • Prepare them EARLY, explain to them, don’t be secretive.
  • Be open – with your own experience, with age appropriate information.
  • Make “the change” a normal part of THEIR growth…explain, explain, explain.
  • Help your girls see that it’s about becoming MORE who they are and not a time when they lose who they were.
  • Don’t force them to embrace an identity they are unfamiliar with and one that makes them uncomfortable, secretive and embarrassed.
  • Growing up is confusing enough as it is.  Don’t make things harder than they are.

Pregnant Before Her First Period

At 11 years of age, Hope became a mother just weeks shy of her 12th birthday.  The baby’s daddy is just 17 months older.

Hope’s mother, Lisa, says that she was shocked to find out on Christmas Eve of last year that her daughter was pregnant — when Hope was already six months along. She recalls that, as Hope was getting up off the couch, she noticed that her stomach was protruding out. “Hope had never even gotten her period,” Lisa says. She insists that she had no idea that Hope and her boyfriend, Bailey, were having sex.(Read more about Dr. Phil’s show 10-10-13.)

Did you notice what Hope’s mom said?  “Hope had never even gotten her period.”

11 year old Hope got pregnant and she’d never had a period – not one.

What about your girls? Have you “had the talk” with them? Are your girls sexually active?  Would you know if they were?

What about it, moms?  Are your girls period wise?

Tampons, TSS and a 15 yr old Girl

If you think tampon related TSS (Toxic Shock Syndrome) is a thing of the past…think again.

Please, think again.

Peyton, at the age of 15, became ill while menstruating and using tampons.

Read her account of her horrifying experience.

This happened in June of this year.- 4 months ago.

Please learn the facts about TSS.

Be period wise. Be tampon wise.  Be TSS wise.