The Period Talk

I bought both my nieces the American Girl book, "The Care and Keeping of You" and plan on giving it to my daughter when she's old enough. For now I'm faced with having the puberty talk with my 10-yo son.

Perhaps this is outdated, or not at all what you're looking for, but I remember reading "Are You There God? It's me, Margaret" by Judy Blume at that age. It's about an 11yo girl dealing with puberty and religion in her life. It's obviously not a science book, but it's nice to read a story about a girl like you going through the same things in her life. Google it and read the description.
I think I would just answer her questions honestly, like she has been. I doubt the school talk would freighten her, but she'll probably come home with more questions that she doesn't want to ask in front of other kids. The talk at school might spark her interest and lead to a better talk at home.
Good luck.

I have a daughter who is 14 now,and two boys. I wasn't sure how to approach the subject before school did. I found an excellent book from the American Girl Library "The Care and Keeping of You". It goes through all the stages of development, hygiene and all body changes.
We would read a chapter each night before bed, and discuss it. It helped me to put things in terms she could understand, without being too overwhelming.
Best of Luck.

Just let her know if she wants to talk, to let you know. PLEASE, make sure someone shows her how too insert a tampon. And please get her Kotex brand. Kotex has a "mesh" covering that allows the tampon to be removed easily if their is little to no blood on it, unlike tampax, where if you have a light day it feels like you will remove your uterus when you yank it out. Noone showed me a tampon tip pointed to my tailbone when I should insert it. As a 12 year old who started her period I used to have tampons fall out because I never put them in right, and had so much discomfort because of it. Make sure you tell her that if she has cramps, you believe her. I was a woman who had endometriosis very young, and severe bleeding and cramps EVERYONE in my life told me were in my head. It can really make a young girl feel very insecure about perceptions if someone doesnt believe her.

I really like the American Girl book, The Care and Keeping of You, which covers girls' bodies head to toe. I gave it to both my girls when they turned ten. Good luck to your cousin!

I read the best book when I was a kid, and it's still good! (I actually used it in my 5th grade classroom, when I taught "Family Life.")

It's called "What's Happening To Me?" I can't remember the author, but a google search will turn it up. They also do a great book about sex, called "Where Did I Come From?"

Congrats to your friend- her daughter is in an exciting and fun stage of life!

one book for both boys and girls is where do babies come from.. it's awesome.. I read it to my son in 4th grade because he asked about where do babies come from and how do they get there??? WOW.. hard questions and I wanted him to be better informed then I was. My daughter is in 4th grade and asked this past summer for the AmericaN Girl book about your body.. it tells you so much. She loves it.. It tells about deodrant, cleaning and the changes your body will go thru. she loves it. good luck
p.s. talk to her first.. but don't get her out of the class.. the kids will laugh at the ones that don't go to the class..

I see that someone mentioned the book; "Are You There, God? It's me, Margaret." by Judy Blume. When I was in the 7th. or 8th. grade at a Catholic school, that book was taken out of the school library by each and every girl in my class, one at a time! The boys tried hard to get their hands on it too, so they could figure out what it was all about, only because it was so interesting to us girls, but we kept it going from girl to girl, so they wouldn't get their hands on it!

I got mine in school, but was invited to go home with a class mate to spend the weekend at her house, so I didn't say anything about it until I got to my friend's house! I knew all about it, from my two older sisters, so I was fine with it, but my friend's mom was all in a thither, asking me if I knew about it, did I want to go home..... no way! I wanted to stay! LOL! My friend was full of questions like; "What's it feel like?"

Memories........ :D

Good luck...... she'll be fine. :)
D. N.

Hi, I used the book by American Girls I believe it was called "Taking care of my Body" or something along those lines as for the school they should have an opt out for parents who feel that their child is not ready for that talk. In our school district we have a parents meeting where we preview the presentation and then we have time to make our decision as to whether or not our child is ready to particpate in this activity.

I would recommend mom get her daughter the book "changing bodies, changing selves" and sit down with her to read it together (after reading it herself to decide which parts are appropriate for a 4th grader). The book is great because it is for young kids and teenagers, and will be a great resource for the coming decade...