SKY Magazine Issue 25 Repro

Gaone
Manatong
Have a
Super
Period!
My First Period
When I was 13 and waiting for my results after finishing
standard 7, I still thought I had a long way to go before I started
my periods. Even though a few of my friends had already gotten theirs,
I never wanted to get older so I hoped mine would come by the time I was at UB or
something. Anyways, it was just a chill day and I was lazing around when I felt my tummy churning as
if I had a belly ache, so I went to use the loo. That’s when I noticed brownish smudged dots on my
BRAND NEW yellow ‘Monday’ panties. I was so upset later on when the stain wouldn’t come off.
While sitting on the toilet contemplating how ‘I’m suddenly a woman!’ and wondering how in the
world women play sports on their periods, I resigned to calling my older cousin (I basically screamed
her name from the toilet and she came running, it was an emergency alright!) I guess she was kinda
helpful… She gave me pads and both her and my aunt gave me a small pep talk about hygiene
and changing my pads. That was easy enough. I changed my pad 7 times that day - every
time I felt like there was some blood I changed it. My aunt was not happy with my wasteful
behaviour since I’m supposed to use a pack for the rest of the week! That was news to me.
One of the good things from this experience was that I had supportive people around
me who didn’t make a big deal about my first period. Legit nobody cared, they just
went about their usual business. That gave me some confidence
that they believed and trusted I’m grown enough to take
care of myself.
22