Jinx! You Owe Me a Period

Tarini A  •  Tamil Nadu, India  •  15

So we had our half yearly exams. I remember that me and my best friend got our first period on the same day. Luckily she found out in school, but I only found out after I got home. So it was our last exam before Pooja holidays and we were asked to leave sooner because some kind of local revolt.

Before the exams started, my best friend told me that her underwear was bloody. She didn't know that it was her periods at that time, but I did, thanks to my mom who is a doctor! So I teased her that she got cancer and was gonna die soon. She believed! But then later I told her the truth. And when I got home, I saw my underwear was bloody too. (P.S. I remember I wore white underwear then, and that was the last time I wore a white one!) Of course, I knew what was happening, but I did not know what to do next.

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My mom told me about periods but she never told me about pads. So I just changed my underwear and went to sleep, praying that all this should be some kind of dream. (Let's face it! I was in 6th grade back then and I didn't expect my periods to come too soon. So it was like a nightmare!) But when I woke up, there was blood all over my bed. And again I went to sleep!

As my mom is a doctor and there was a local riot that day, she was stuck in the hospital until 8 pm. My dad was a doctor too, so I was on my own until they came home, and all the while it was the same routine. I woke up, changed my underwear, changed the bedspread and went to sleep. And finally when my mom did arrive, I told her and she was as shocked! (P.S. By the time my mom arrived, I had stained almost all the underwear I had.)

My Period's on Vacation

Samantha C  •  Georgia  •  13

So this actually isn’t my first period, but it was one to remember. So I was going on vacation and it was only like my second or third period. On the way to the beach, of course I leaked, but I was wearing black shorts so you couldn’t see. I was on it the whole time I was there and I didn’t want to put in a tampon, so I would wear nothing and walk around with a towel around my waist all the time.

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Once I even wore a pad swimming and wore shorts over it and that didn’t work. My mom found the blood on the towel and said she’d show me how to put in a tampon, but I didn’t want her to do that so I tried to do it myself and I did it right. So finally for the rest of the time I could relax just a little bit, but not much which sucked hard.

Kerry Kotex

Kerry A  •  New York  •  32

I was on a short road trip with my dad, on our way to see my grandparents. I remember feeling like I had to pee really bad during the first hour or so of the ride, like maybe I’d had a lot of water or something. We had lunch at a diner, I went to the bathroom and I noticed it on the toilet paper. It was kind of a dark brown, but I knew this had to be it. I wiped some more, and sure enough, it kept on coming and was getting a little more on the red side.

I walked out and whispered to my dad, “I’m having my period.” He told me to quit messing with him. I told him I was being serious. Next thing I remember is going to the drug store and getting some Kotex brand pads and my dad persistently calling me “Kerry Kotex” in a sing-song voice all the way to our destination. It may not have been that persistent, but that’s certainly how I remember it.

I had known it was coming. My mom rocked with teaching me about reproduction, sexual health and puberty, and there were even some days I would wear pads because I’d be like, “yep, today’s the day”. If only this had been one of those days!

But even with being able to talk to my mom about it openly, I’m honestly still learning to navigate the world when “Aunt Flow” comes to visit. It’s an experience that’s just so unique for everyone, but also universal.

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I really enjoy the menstrual movement and the momentum it’s gaining and I love thinking that young people feel they can talk to each other about it more, because when I was in high school, I felt so isolated. Even though I knew others were going through it, I thought surely I was the only one who had to deal with bulky pads or cramps this bad or this particular consistency of blood. 

The first time I really connected with other menstruators was in college when I had a costume for a play that was literally a bikini, and I had to submerge myself in water on stage. Tampons had always freaked me out, and I had never been successful with them, but now it seemed I had no choice (I certainly hadn’t heard of the cup, and period panties weren’t even in the furthest reaches of my imagination). My roommates and some of my cast mates gave me different ones to try and encouraged me not to give up. And I did it! I was embarrassed at first, but ultimately felt really good about sharing in this common experience.

As part of the menstrual movement, I have become really interested in the way that non-menstruators react to the concept of menstruation. So I reached out to my dad some two decades later and asked him if he’d care to share some thoughts. He said that being with me during my menarche simply made him feel like a dad (awww!). He understood that periods happen to half of the population, and that they are good and natural. He was only reasonably panicked about not having supplies on hand, but felt calm after we got to the drug store. He said he doesn’t know too much about it and he’s honestly glad he doesn’t have to go through it, and he does the best that he can to provide support to his partner when she’s on her period. While I don’t expect to see him headlining Period Con any time soon, hearing this warmed my heart. I know there are many dads out there that don’t share this perspective. 

He joked that I still owe him for those pads that day… I told him he could deal.