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My mother talked all about it, but not once did she mention menstrual cramps. I thought I had a really bad case of indigestion or constipation. Turned out it was my period. And we weren't prepared at all for it because my mom had had a hysterectomy a few years prior, so there were no supplies in the house. I'd sent her off to go swimsuit shopping on her own, saying I'd stay home with my grandpa so I'd be close to a toilet. So once I figured out what was really going on, I had to ask my grandpa to take me to the store. I was really thankful to have a cool grandpa that day!
But Jesus H. Christ, it felt like my mom told everyone in creation that I had become a lady. She was great in helping me out with the cramps--so was my dad for that matter. Both of them picked me up from school many, many times (my cramps when I was younger were HORRIBLE) without complaint.
My mom and I have always been open about such things and sexual matters. I felt comfortable enough with my mom to ask her to make my first appointment for a pelvic exam and birth control consult. At the appointment, the GP asked my mother to step out for a moment to ask me if there was anything I wanted to tell her, the implication being that there might be some things I couldn't say in front of my mother. There wasn't. We still laugh about it now.
I made my first trip to an adult shop with my mother! Her friend was going shopping for Christmas gag gifts and they dragged me along too. My mother is a pretty modest person, oddly enough, and so she was kind of embarrassed about being there but not because of me--rather, because of all the strange things she hadn't ever seen or thought about. Some of the things she had to ask me what they were for. She didn't educate me about everything, obviously, but she did make sure I had access to information, and so I knew what most everything was for, despite being an 18-year-old virgin.
That is one of the upsides to all of this communication--I have never made a sexual decision I have later regretted. I have always used protection. I have always had access to birth control if I so desired. I lost my virginity in my own home, in my own bed, at a time of my choosing with a partner of my choosing, at age 19. I teased my mother the next morning that she'd said she would be able to tell, but she couldn't.
The other upside is that my mother is one of my best friends, and I can talk to her about anything. Anything. And that's a nice support to have.
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If I am not better, at least I am different. --Jean-Jacques Rousseau
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