A mom of two is being praised for her honest approach to periods and tampons with her 3-year-old daughter.
Tiffany Remington (@ustheremingtons), from the Pacific Northwest region in Canada, posted the conversation in a reel on Instagram when the mom, on her period, was handed a tampon by her daughter while in the bathroom. While her child could confidently name the tampon, she was unsure of what it did.
Remington said that the tampon is designed to catch blood in the vagina and soaks up the matter “like a big diaper.” She added that some people prefer using pads, especially if the tampon feels too full. In the end, Remington asked her daughter, “So are periods scary?” Her daughter calmly responded, “No.”
Remington told Newsweek that this approach is very intentional. “In our house, we use real anatomical language such as uterus, vagina, penis, testicle, labia and blood so our kids grow up understanding their bodies without shame and desexualize these body parts,” the 35-year-old said.
“We keep it simple, matter of fact, and invite questions. Sometimes, they just go, ‘OK!’ and move on. Other times, they’ll ask more, and we follow their lead,” Remington said.
Her own introduction to periods was starkly different to how she addresses them with her children.
She first learned about periods in fifth-grade health class. “While they didn’t go in-depth or provide many visuals, I walked away with the bare minimum understanding, and that was that—it would happen once a month, and there would be blood and sometimes cramps,” Remington said.
“It was never talked about in my home, so I remained pretty clueless beyond what school taught me,” she added.
Remington’s first period was a mix of excitement and embarrassment. “I was 12, and, of all days, I happened to be wearing a white skirt,” Remington told Newsweek. “While at school, a friend quietly pulled me aside, and we walked down to the nurse’s office. The nurse gave me a pad and encouraged me to change into my PE shorts.”
When she got home, Remington told her mom, who insisted on using pads. “The majority of my teen years, I believed it and was too terrified to try any other period product in fear of hurting my body and disobeying,” Remington added.
The reel, which has been viewed more than 305,000 times, was met with praise from other users online.
“Both my girls were so prepare. We normalize all topics!” one user wrote.
A second user commented: “Both my boys know about periods. I think it’s something everyone should know about.”
“Good job mama,” added a third.
“It’s much better to have an open dialogue with your daughter about puberty and periods,” science writer, consultant and content creator Elena Bridgers told Newsweek.
From the online reaction, Remington said that other parents are working hard to change the narrative around menstruation for children.
She added: “At the end of the day, this openness will help destigmatize sex education and empower the next generation with better knowledge, body literacy, and emotional understanding.”
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