I was almost 12. It was actually the second year that my mom had packed supplies in with my camp stuff, just in case.

Then I started having problems with it so I was the first in my circle to get a pelvic...my rites of passage? Suck out loud. But then, my BFF got a period cake from her hippie mom so it could be worse.ETA: Yeah, JZ, did not need another way to be a freak, but it wasn't an event by then.

my family was pretty blase about the whole becoming a woman thing. Godot still has my boobs.

Vortex, I do not know this famous napkin story.

Everybody loves this story :)

One of the many things that I loved about my dad is that we could talk about anything. As I mentioned, my mother was a little psycho about the menstrooooooation thing. One day, as I was standing in our L shaped hallway, my dad asked me if I needed anything from the grocery store. I hesitated, thinking about it, and my dad thought that I needed something and didn't want to say. My dad said "if you need anything from THAT aisle, I'll buy it, but I need specifics. I need to know the name, how many, and the color of the box!" We both laughed and were kidding around when my mother came upon the conversation and realized that we were talking about IT so, she dragged me around the corner to the short part of the L to tell me that you NEVER discuss that with a man, even your father, blah, blah, blah. I was looking at her like she was crazy when my father poked his head around the corner and yelled "period! period! period!" I cracked up. My mother was frozen in horror. Before she could recover, he poked his head around the corner again and shouted "napkin! napkin! napkin!" By this point, I was helpless with laughter. My mother tore around the corner to yell at my dad. She ended up making him apologize to me. She felt vindicated because she thought I was so embarrassed that I couldn't look at him, but the reality was that if we made eye contact, we both would have cracked up and gotten in trouble.

It suddenly occurs to me how incredibly screwed up I would be if it wasn't for my dad. My mother has some issues.

I think my period problem(or rather The Pill) helped with that because I was flat for the longest time, and then "Hello!"

I love that story, Vortex.

That is a GREAT story, Vortex!

What Kristin said.

Oh a cake, erika. That's too funny. Sweet, and well meaning, but completely awful.

I almost told a certain someone that if she didn't feel well, she didn't need to go to school tomorrow, but then I remembered which certain someone I was dealing with and if she doesn't feel up for school, she will tell me loud and clear. I don't want her to look on it as a (or "the") curse, or an infirmity, so I'll just take things as they come, in the morning.

ita, I had a college friend who struggled with migraines and got some prescription that brought on her period which somehow helped with the migraines. I know you've probably been tested and analyzed from crown to sole, but your post just made me wonder about a hormonal thing with your poor, pretty head.

I think Buffistas will understand this when I say (and yeah, this is gooberish, fannish, and pathetic to the max) but it felt like the weirdest right of passage to me tonight, because (thanks to facebook) I found out about the certain female person in my house, and about Patrick Swayze's death at about the same second. My mother said, "Yeah, that means you're old." I said, "No. Today, I am a woman." What? It's a thing.

My dad said "if you need anything from THAT aisle, I'll buy it, but I need specifics. I need to know the name, how many, and the color of the box!"

There are still times I have to remember what to buy by color.

That story is hysterical (heh), Vortex. I don't remember hearing it before. Cool dude.

Plus? Bonus for your tag - "Cry havoc and let slip the boobs of war!" -- Miracleman