Susan B. • Indiana • 60
My mom, God bless her, will/would not speak of anything too personal. Any body functions, sex talk, etc was off limits.
I attended a small Catholic School and fortunately Mrs. Cook, our 5th grade teacher was not embarrassed to speak about such things. She would separate the boys and the girls and we would listen to an album on menstruation and the ways of the female body. She would answer all questions. I would never think to have a question, but I listened intently.
One day my period appeared... I think in 6th grade. My recollection is of laying on my bed with toilet paper stuck in my underwear, and my mom coming into the room asking if I was sick. I kept saying no, I was not sick and wanted her to say the word period, but she would not say it, just kept asking if I was sick and I kept saying no.
Later, there was the Kotex and belt you used at that time in the bathroom cabinet and then tampons appeared, which I was excited about!! It took a whole box or so, to figure it all out, but I never went back to the Kotex/belt situation until Always pads came into the world.
Even to this day, you would not think there was any menstruation going on in the world if it was up to my mom to talk about it.
