Menstruation, what's the big deal?

Yesterday there was a post on one of the groups I'm part of on Facebook asking advice of how to make a daughter's first period a pleasant, special experience. I appreciated some of the more traditional celebrations of womanhood and "coming of age" type responses, but I was SHOCKED at how many moms in the group were still trying to get over what could nearly be called trauma of their first period.

For me, menstruation was just a normal part of life that would occur whenever my body was ready to grow/nourish children. It was a necessary, special and sucky part of life. (Seriously? Who could enjoy cramps and the inconvenience of bleeding for up to a week once each month?) I knew of the purpose of menstruation since I was at oldest 8 (my parents followed the "we'll answer whatever questions you have" philosophy, and I was very persistent with the "where do babies come from, and how are they made?") type questions. I still remember the day they took me on a walk and gave me a essentially an human sexuality talk with this cute picture book that walked it through in a really good, sacred way. My mom was also very open about when she was on her cycle, and I often grabbed pads for her from storage if she ran out in the bathroom. The only thing that was hard for me to figure out was tampons, since she got really severe TSS and almost never used them.

Apparently the moms who had bad experiences were all people who's moms never talked about menstruation. Many felt it was something to be ashamed of. 

While I understand wanting to be private and/or avoiding inconveniencing family members, I think it served me well to live in a household where menstruation was normal, obnoxious, maybe, but normal, because let's face it, menstruation IS a normal, biological  part of female life. While it may be an uncomfortable topic for some, I just want to thank my mom (and dad, because dads and brothers still have to deal with the PMS and such as well) for making it no big deal. And, while I've never been accused of beating around the bush--in fact I'm often told I'm too blunt, or provide TMI, I hope that the girls, know what to expect when their cycles start, and I hope they feel support from both me and dad. 

I also hope that if we have any boys, they will be comfortable with it too, because, seriously, how obnoxious would it be for their sisters, and even more importantly their future girlfriends/wives if they get squeamish every month. Now, I'm not saying they will necessarily be nice about it to their sisters--I OFTEN got teased from my brothers--but they were sympathetic and helpful in other ways, and I hope that will be the case for the girls if we have any sons, and for their future boyfriends/husbands, if we don't.