By Gina Badalaty

 

6 Keys to Help You Teach Your Special Needs Daughter about Puberty

One of the more challenging aspects of raising a daughter with special needs is teaching her about puberty.  This year my 9 year old, Amelia, started showing the earliest signs of puberty.  I panicked, but after I calmed down, I came up with a practical plan on how I would teach her.  In developing my plan, I discovered six keys that can help you take the right approach to teaching your daughter about puberty.

1.  Communication.
If your child has a speech disability, or is unable to understand you, you must find another way to communicate what puberty is all about.  This can entail a variety of methods.  A good book can help, or you may need to find a picture exchange system (PECS) or social story based specifically on puberty.  If not, look around for good images and create your own PECS or social story tailored to your child’s needs.  We use the American Girl book, “The Care and Keeping of You,” which Amelia likes very much.  (Note: it is very graphic.)

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I am 54 years old but I have two twenty something daughters who get their periods and an 11 year old granddaughter who is definitely hitting puberty. Oh the attitude on that child!

Nowadays everyone is trying to be as green friendly as they can by using recyclable and sustainable products. I started to fool around with the idea of creating cloth menstrual pads and panty liners and used my daughters as guinea pigs! Let me tell you, they hated the idea and thought it was absolutely gross and disgusting. Some of their initial comments were “I’ll never wear that” and “How do I wash these things?”

Well, one day my younger daughter was out of disposable pads and it was too late to run out to the store. She was is dire need and she asked me if I had anything available. Of course I did!

She reluctantly used the pad and fell asleep. When she work up I asked her how the pad held up and she said and I quote ” That was the best night’s sleep I had while on my period. The pad was super soft and nothing leaked through!”

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Let’s talk about it, and take it seriously

Too young for menopause?Usually when a day is designated to a specific cause or event it is meant to be celebrated, but if you ask a woman going through menopause what she thinks of Menopause Day she’ll tell you there is nothing celebratory about hot flashes, migraines, fluctuating body weight and low libido. So instead of celebrating it, this commemoratory event should be an opportunity for us to educate the world about this “special time of our lives” and to address the issues and concerns that many women (and their men) have that aren’t always openly discussed at the dinner table.

Am I too young for Menopause?

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By Ellen Dolgen

Thursday, October 18th, 2012 is World Menopause Day. This is like a worldwide birthday party for the big M! This year, the sponsoring organization, the International Menopause Society (IMS), is launching a campaign to focus on the health implications of weight gain during menopause. (Coincidentally, I blogged about weight gain a few weeks ago.) How can you celebrate?  Open up the channels of communication and break the taboo that somehow still lingers around the topic of perimenopause and menopause. It’s silly, and it’s time we’re done with it. Raise a toast to you, your Mom, your sisters, Aunts, and to women worldwide who share this passage of womanhood.

World Menopause Day

What are some ways you can honor and celebrate yourself or other women you know who are experiencing perimenopause or menopause? How about throwing a Menopause Party? Quick! When you think of the word “party,” what comes to mind? The legendary toga party in Animal House? Jake Ryan’s house party in Sixteen Candles? The seniority in Dazed and Confused? Though all of these parties had different features—from ivy to paddles—they have one thing in common: the reason for celebration—each other. Parties exist for fun! Menopause parties are no different. As the taboo surrounding perimenopause and menopause  is peeled away layer by layer like your clothes during a hot flash, more women are looking to parties for support, the latest information, resources and sisterhood. READ MORE… »

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PeriodTalk

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SEATTLE— www.bepreparedperiod.com has launched what may be the only online community for women of all ages, developing girls and their parents, a safe place for questions and answers about menstruation, feminine hygiene, the female body and more.

 

PeriodTalk is free and open to anyone to ask and answer questions anonymously. www.bepreparedperiod.com founder Tara Bruley, a Seattle-area mom, said PeriodTalk is an accepting place for questions that women, parents, girls, “tweens” and teens may be uncomfortable asking about menstruation and physical development elsewhere. Other members of the community can offer their own insight, and PeriodTalk experts may also chime in with guidance and knowledge. READ MORE… »

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by Nicole Jardim I used to be that girl who dreaded my period AND the week before my period. It would begin with the ridiculous sugar cravings (yes the kind where eating a whole chocolate cake would be just fine), then the bloating would start (probably because of the whole chocolate cake), and it would culminate in the worst cramps ever (think the kind of cramps that make you throw up and want to pass out). And then I’d get my period! That was my life for many years and I felt like I had no control over my body or what was happening to it every month. Approximately 75% of women struggle with similar issues every single month so I’m sure you can relate. Eventually I figured out that I do have control – I have control over the food that I eat and how I live my life. Who knew!? I have learned over the years that every bite you take counts when it comes to how your body functions and how you want to feel physically and emotionally.  I have also learned that the main cause of PMS is an underlying hormonal imbalance in which your estrogen levels increase while your progesterone levels decrease. This is known as estrogen dominance. READ MORE… »

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Prepared for PubertyI was 13 when I got my period and although it was 33 years ago, what I remember most about that day is how lonely I felt. Menstruation wasn’t something discussed among friends, much less at home. I was prepared in the literal sense. I had a box of pads under my bathroom sink and I knew I would bleed and what to do about it. Still, I wasn’t prepared emotionally. Facts weren’t very helpful when I felt like nobody understood and nobody wanted to talk about it.

When I found myself the mother of not one, but three daughters, I knew it would be up to me to make sure they were not only physically prepared for whatever life threw at them, but emotionally prepared as well.  From the time they were born, I made it a point to talk to my girls. We talk about everything… from school to friends to puberty and even those darn boys. I always knew that talking and being open and honest with them was going to be the answer to raising smart, secure and self-confident children. I never wanted my kids to feel they couldn’t come to me and ask questions, or talk, or tell me how they were feeling. READ MORE… »

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Until my 20’s, I struggled with PMS. Whether it was backaches, migraines, excessive cramping, etc. it was a constant struggle. I always did the obvious, painkillers, PMS tea, read all the tips from magazines and it seemed, nothing worked. It wasn’t until my late 20’s I met a modern day goddess (and yoga guru), Zahra Haji.  She fashioned unique practices for women to connect with their feminine energy, under her business Yoga Goddess. Amongst her different series of classes, she had a very special offering Moon Goddess.  This class focused on how women’s bodies connect spiritually with the moon, and how women are cyclical just like the moon. Each phase of the moon, connected with one of the four phases of the monthly cycle a woman goes through. It was through this series of kundalini yoga, meditations, and using specific yoga poses for each part of the cycle I go through with my body, that helped me achieve the most important success in my struggle with PMS; love and acceptance of my body, what I go through and how it makes me unique. READ MORE… »

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I have to start by saying that my mom and I are now best of friends and this is in no way criticism of the way she raised me it was a different time and talking about certain things were still taboo.
My First Period - Heather Lynne's StoryWhen I was a young girl there was no “talk” about your cycle or what to expect, actually I don’t think there was much talking about anything regarding our bodies.  I do remember my very forward-thinking mom buying me “Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret.”  But that was probably the only real “discussion” we had.
When my period came the only real information I had was the vague information from “health” class (in those days it was less information more ewww it’s yucky) and from my peers as well as the outdated information in the book from mom.
I was 11 or 12 when “aunt flo” came to visit the first time,  I know it was a bit scary and I was surprised when cramps and clots happened.  No one mentioned these exciting and fantastic things I got to discover on my own.
The usage of tampons and pads were awkward and I spent many days scrubbing stains that I wasn’t prepared for.  I knew that mom had a bucket under the sink for her icky things so I took her signal as this was the way it was SUPPOSED to be.
The whole period thing was disgusting, horrible and uncomfortable as I have fibroid cysts on my ovaries (making my cramps insufferable). READ MORE… »

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Endometriosis Awareness Month has come to a close but the great work that organizations like, The Endometriosis Association, The Center for Endometriosis Care and The Endometriosis Network Canada is not done. Their work to raise awareness for this “invisible” disease goes on year round. We feel so honored to have taken part in their mission of raising awareness, educating and providing hope.

Last year, we helped raise awareness by adding a new Endometriosis section to our site and also included Endometriosis brochures in all our shipments for the month of March.

This year, we are proud to report that much more was done to raise awareness.

This “invisible” disease became visible:

– On Twitter: We hosted a special Endometriosis Awareness Tweet Chat with special guests, The Center For Endomteriosis Care & Dr. Sallie Sarrel (transcript available, here)

– In every www.bepreparedperiod.com shipment: Endometriosis brochures (provided by The Endometriosis Association) were added to all orders

– On our blog and Endometriosis section: Personal stories from many courageous EndoSisters, and an article about Endometriosis Awareness from the Endometriosis Network Canada were added

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