I want to tell you today a simple truth of mine, which has proven very effective for me.
From a very young age, my children (and I believe yours too) have faced the arrival of their mother's periods... they have noticed sanitary napkins when we go shopping, fatigue, or even my more stressed-out nerves than usual.
What should we do?
We shouldn't try to hide it. Children are there and they feel something from a very young age. They will seek to understand something and by not being the ones explaining it to them, we will encourage the child to distrust us or even fantasize about something very problematic (mom is bleeding, mom is sick, mom could die).
We should not lie to them. This would only lead to the strengthening of mistrust, since sooner or later they will learn somewhere else, from someone else, about this process. This is where the risk of misinformation can arise by looking for the answer elsewhere, on the Internet or in immature conversations with their peers.
So I decided to tell them this story from when they were little:
In your mother's womb, there is a house for babies, where you also stayed for 9 months.
Just like we clean the house, the "baby's house" also needs to be cleaned...so mom is a little more tired now...her stomach also hurts because a broom that is inside accidentally hit her😊
That's why sanitary napkins are used to collect all the debris and dust that has accumulated in the "baby's house."
So mom is taking this medicine, so that you can clean yourself better, like when we put medicine in the washing machine to wash clothes that you got dirty playing...
These were still small for a while.
As time goes by, I have accompanied every explanation given in the initial phase with accurate and appropriate information depending on their age... and first of all, we have given a name to this natural process. Periods, menstruation, habits, monthly... whatever you want... but no longer "those" (!)
Children have slowly come to understand such a natural physiological process of a woman's body, have learned that nothing scary comes from it, and have even been educated to take care of themselves and someone else during that time of the month.
And as they grow up, they feel grateful that they knew this earlier, and sometimes, with the pride of someone who knows something more, they have even told their friends.
"-Mom, is the baby's house cleaned only when it's getting ready to welcome a new baby?" my older daughter asked me after her sister was born.
-No, baby, it's cleaned regularly, like our house, not just when we're hosting friends😊"
