Talking about things that are personal to you can be tricky, even if it’s your mother. Sometimes, growing up, you don’t know the right words to pick in order to talk to your mom about your body. Don’t worry, we’ve all been there. Do you remember the first time you spoke to your mother about your period? Was it emotional? Was it awkward?
Well, we asked team POPxo to tell us their first-ever conversation about periods with their moms. Here’s what they have to say!
Team POPxo Talks About Their First Period Conversation
How many of these can you relate to?
Umm… awkward!
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Honestly, the first-period conversation with my mom was a little awkward owing to the fact that one of my cousins had already told me about the entire process in the most confusing (read scary) way possible. Something in the way she talked about it told me that periods are something to be ashamed of and thus when my mom brought it up back when I was in class 6th, it was all sorts of awkward. Sadly, it only got worse when I finally got my first period. It was a Monday morning and I woke up with all my clothes and bed linen covered in blood. I majorly freaked out and refused to go to school. That is when my mother senses how embarrassed I was of the entire idea, sat me down, and initiated a non-serious, casual conversation on the topic. That actually helped a little but I did remain slightly awkward for days to come.
-Khushboo Sharma, Senior Writer
That’s so silly of me!
I got my period at the age of 11, just a month or two after our school counsellor had a chat with us about it. My mother had never spoken to me about it, and being 11, I had no idea how to tell her and was frankly too embarrassed to. I freaked out and didn’t say anything, and used tissue papers and handkerchiefs as make-shift pads for two days. Later, my mother noticed a bloodstain on my jeans and asked me about it and I burst out crying. She then hugged me, explained the process of menstruation in great detail and taught me how to use a pad. All these years later, I still feel silly about being too embarrassed to talk to her about it! It’s natural and nothing to be ashamed of.
-Tanya Sharma, Junior Editor
No reaction there!
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TBH, I never had a conversation with my mother about periods before I got them! I still remember I was 12 and luckily, it was a Sunday so I was home. Keeping with our usual Sunday tradition, my mom was applying oil in my hair when she noticed a bloodstain on my off-white skirt. I, honestly, had no idea what was going on. She took me inside and showed me a sanitary pad and told me that I will have to use them from now on. She then explained to me that women get their periods every month and taught me how to use a pad. I didn’t react much then! Gradually in the course of five days of my first period, she kept explaining things to me and it was all okay!
– Neha Kapoor, Senior Writer
Is blood really coming out of me?
It was honestly so awkward. My best friend at the time told me about periods when I was in the 7th grade. I couldn’t stop freaking all night thinking that blood was going to flow out of my vag and it’s gonna happen any day now!
I keep hinting at my mom to have the period talk because my friend was very vague with the details and I was really confused and obviously, she did. She literally told me everything, the entire biology behind it. I think I stopped listening to her when she told me that it happens every month. All I could think was, “I have to go through this every month?”
I literally got my first period a week after that and it wasn’t pleasant, at all, TBH!
– Aayushi Pareek, Beauty Writer
That’s SO normal
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Honestly, my mom was very open about the period conversation. She sat me down one day and said, mama bleeds every month and so will you and that is absolutely normal. In fact, she picked out a picture from the internet to explain the whole female anatomy to me. However, I still freaked out when I first got my period and she sat me down to explain the whole thing to me again. It took me a couple of months to understand how to really handle the whole situation.
– Krithika Kumar, Junior Editor
How many of these did you relate to?
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