Cindy, OMG!

Yes amych and Hil, plus MEEP!

(I'm waiting for the same milestone. ACK)

Barb, if she's well prepared, it should go okay. She was so sanguine (that's probably the wrong word to choose, given the Buffista propensity for word-nerdism) that it threw me off, a little. I was well prepared for my own, and yet? I cried. Not my girl, though. She's a cool customer.

Wow, Cindy! That's way more cool than Emmett eager to show me his new Man Hair Down There.

Hee. Ah, see, that came up for discussion when our oldest male type had that cancer scare (that turned out to be absolutely nothing) so the moment itself was almost an afterthought.

OMG! You are a good person for gently preparing. I was the 3rd daughter in my house and NONE of us had any preparation. I still think my older sisters could have given me a heads up there since mom failed. The current generation gets much more information, and this is a good thing. Also, oh my, that is a milestone.

Oh, Laura. Awful. My aunt was only 11 and my grandmother (who was way cool about all things physical and/or female) just wasn't expecting it and hadn't prepared her. Poor little think thought she had internal bleeding. Thankfully, my 4-years-younger mother was a little rat fink and told.

Cindy, I'm going to merely say, "Hey, cool," on account of my own mom got all excited when I hit the same milestone and bought me a commemorative plate (er, not that there's an official Franklin Mint line of commemorative flatware for this occasion; it just had a pretty picture of a cat that she thought I'd like--nevertheless, desperately humiliating).

So, merely, Hey, cool.

Heh, JZ. Your mom is too adorable. Now I want a commemorative plate, but I was thinking Judy Blume's Are You There God, It's Me, Margaret would probably be the best bet.

First time I hit that milestone was at summer camp. I didn't tell my mom then, because I knew that she'd be disappointed to not be able to hug me and talk to me after the first time, so when it happened again the next month, when I was home from camp, I pretended it was the first time. And she hugged me and talked to me and it was incredibly awkward.

You are a prize daughter, Hil. Does your mom know the whole story, now?

I am filled with womanly camaraderie.

Right? -t, I tried very hard to make this a GOOD thing. I'll check in with her in 20 years and see if it worked.

eta...

Oh, Cass. See, the boobs have been here for a while (certainly in comparison to her peers), so I had fair warning. And yet? I'm still thinking it's always sudden.

You are a prize daughter, Hil. Does your mom know the whole story, now?

Nope.

I was at school, eighth grade. All of the teachers were very blase about it, bunch of 12 and 13 year old girls, it probably happened once a month (heh, no joke intended). In fact, one of the male teachers made a point of saying "ladies, if you tell me that you need to go to the nurse, I will write you a pass with no questions asked"

My mother was a little bit psycho about keeping it secret. I had to hide my tampons and whatnot in my room and taking it to the bathroom was like doing a dead drop with nuclear submarine plans.

which of course, led to the famous "napkin" story.

I was fourteen and beginning to think I found a loophole or something. It was more a "Finally." than a moment.

I think sanguine is the perfect word.

I was only 9 and very much not prepared.

Mine also happened at camp, and for some reason (even though it was...GIRL SCOUT camp) I was mad embarrassed and didn't want to have to make a special trip to the nurse and get supplies and whatnot, and it was all awkward and awful.

Of course, at home, somehow we tried to avoid talking about all these things, and the protocol was to steal products like those and shaving supplies and whatnot from my mother's bathroom, and hope she had some. And hope she'd notice when she was low and go buy more. Perhaps not the best plan.

David, Scott laughed out loud at your E story.

Vortex, I do not know this famous napkin story.

erika, my then BFF was 14. We had the same birthday (my milestone came on my 12th birthday). She was so relieved to be a part of it, and by then, the rest of us were thinking what a pain it was.

-t, heh. Other word nerd.

eta...

sj -- you were 9? Oh you poor little baby.

I was almost 17 and only got it because it was medically induced. Oh, malfunctioning girly parts. How you mocked me.

I was way old, and it was the week before my appointment with a developmental specialist, because I really was that old. I told my mother right quick, so we could get that embarassing thing off my calendar.

My body was very good period-wise to me for the first while, but over the past ten years ago, I have achieved unenviable near-normalcy.