This story about a #GirlDad normalizing periods is brought to you by Natracare, the vegan, biodegradable and compostable period products company.
“Daaaaaad!!!”
I turn away from my laptop and jog down the hallway from my bedroom.
“Oh my god what’s wrong?”
“Can you throw me a pad?”
“Sure thing”
I open the linen closet and grab one. “Here you go, kid. You okay?”
“Yeah, I’m good. Thanks!”
With my left hand, I toss a Natracare pad down the long guest bathroom, the water closet the girls have claimed 95% ownership of with their full complement of vegan lipsticks, packages of makeup removal wipes, eyelash crimpers, and the always present hair straightener and curling iron (for which whichever mood their locks are in on any given day) splayed out haphazardly on the white vanity countertop.
My off-hand delivery increased the odds of the pad landing in the litter (the cats preside over the other 5% of this bathroom) across from her legs on the toilet but there was no “eeewwww!” heard so my sidearm throw must’ve worked a charm. I still got it!
She apparently just got it too. Thankfully though, my oldest teenager has no qualms about calling on dad to help out in a period pinch. After all, this wasn’t the first time I came to her rescue.
Normalizing Periods Is Totally Normal
I’m proud of a lot of the decisions I’ve made as a dad, and how my relationship with my two daughters has evolved. The lack of awkwardness about periods and pads is near the top of the list. In fact, it was me who urged her to “Please keep an extra set of school clothes and a few pads in your locker in case you get your first period before the end of 10th period, during school one day.” And it was dad again who drove a fresh pair of underwear, khaki uniform skort, and a few pads over to school when, no surprise, she did indeed get her first period during class (biology, naturally) and, also naturally, she hadn’t heeded my sage dad advice to have a ‘break glass in case of period emergency’ kit in her locker. I wasn’t weirded out about talking to the school receptionist about why I was there, what I had in my right hand, or when I handed over this dad-packed period care package.
I also wasn’t weirded out a few months later, when I vigorously scrubbed blood out of her favorite underwear, remnants of an unexpected arrival of her period while she was still getting used to the timing of it all. She was going to toss them into the trash and I was like, “No way! I can totally get that out!” And I did. How that for normalizing periods?
None of this makes me some kind of hero. I’m just a parent, a proud #girldad, her dad. She’s my oldest kid, a kid growing up more and more every day. All I want is to be available to her and her sister, for whenever they decide they need me and in whatever capacity. Whether that’s tossing a pad down the bathroom hall, restoring favorite clothes to their original state, listening to what troubles them about school, whatever is on their minds – good or bad – and making sure the pads and tampons I’m buying for both of my teen girls are organic and all-natural. Because there’s enough stuff to worry about in life, and choosing better products that don’t contain harmful chemicals and will biodegrade earlier on helps to form positive habits for life.
In some parts of our planet though, and sadly in some households here in the U.S., period taboos still exist. Not in my home. No sir. Menstruation, periods and using plastic free, plant-based pads and tampons from Natracare are normalized, in part, by me understanding that their monthly cycle is a part of normal, everyday life and in treating their periods as such. I need to buy milk and bread and veggies every week, I watch English soccer on the TV every weekend, and my girls get their periods every month. These are all normal things and we proceed accordingly.
My teens and I got here because I’ve never once bought into the fear of having girls or the fear of those girls growing up. We talk openly about everything, normalize everything, and our dad-daughter relationship is better for it. Full stop.
Find all-natural, plant-based Natracare pads, tampons and panty liners on the shelf at your local Whole Foods (or in Waitrose if you’re in the U.K.) as well as online at Amazon.
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