My parents had just divorced, and there was a restraining order against my mom. I was barely 10, and didn’t really understand what was happening. I guess the stress brought it on early.
Anyway I went to the bathroom one day and noticed a weird brown sludge. I showed it to my dad and asked him what it was. He was totally uncomfortable, but told me that it was my period (because really, that’s all he knew/cared to know) and quickly scampered away to get the most uncomfortable no-name brand of pads that existed.
I feel like I was pretty oblivious due to adult discomfort and my mother’s absence. I was old enough to know in theory what a period was from rudimentary sex-ed, but only through strange abstract diagrams and allusions. There wasn’t any hostility, but there also wasn’t any help.
It was pretty uneventful, especially compared to everything else going on in my life at the time. I was always pretty independent, so I started buying decent menstrual products on my own pretty soon afterwards. (Now I use a mooncup - delightful! GO GET ONE.)
submitted by: enviablememory