The Hard Truth About Getting Our First Periods . . . and What Parents Can Learn

The story: I was in sixth grade taking a bathroom break during my jazz class and saw a little spotting and ignorantly/hilariously thought maybe it was an odd side effect of practicing splits for the past 20 minutes. I woke up the following morning to a huge surprise.

My mom was great — tucked some pads into my backpack, marked it on the calendar with a "P" so I could keep track just like she did (who knew?), and made me feel like a grown-up! In retrospect, that was such a good approach. I was one of my first friends to get it, and I broke the news in the locker room when changing for field hockey practice with an oh-so-cool-and-casual "ugh I have such bad cramps today." Aka "I'm a woman now, jealous?" — Joanna Douglas, senior editorial director, Native