About Natasha Hanson

Natasha Hanson is the author of On The Day I Got My Period. View her Profile.

Buying Baby Clothes affordably

Baby ClothesBaby clothes are expensive!  To add insult to injury, they never even wear some clothes because they grow so quickly.  If you don’t have hand-me-downs or a network of moms willing to pass on stuff, we have had great success at op shops (or thrift stores as you call them in America).

Most baby clothes aren’t worn very much, so they’re in much better shape than adult clothes… and the shops near us have enough of a variety that it’s pretty easy to find something that fits.  A quick wash when I get home and they’re as good as new.

I know that you aren’t able to get the latest styles, but your kids can still look really cute… and it doesn’t hurt to teach them from a young age that material things aren’t always what they’re cracked up to be.

Product Placement

Empty Billboard

I hate watching advertisements.  It feels like a waste of my time, which is one reason why I don’t watch much television.

When I do watch television shows, I keep a piece of cardboard near my computer to cover the screen during ad breaks.  I thought I had beat the system!  I had tricked those marketers at their own game… until I realized how deeply interwoven the ads and television shows had become.

In a recent episode of New Girl, she pretended to be a model and spent two minutes hamming it up in front of a car while the announcer talked about how great the car was.  I didn’t even realize I was being advertised to during the show until I was going to bed a few hours later.  As I lay down, lots of other examples popped into my mind.  If you removed the gift cards from Easy A, there isn’t even any plot left!

While I know that marketing is never going away, I don’t ever want to mix my stories with advertising.  Creativity is more important than lousy money.

Gdiapers to the rescue

gDiapers

Courtesy of gDiapers.com

When you have a baby, you are suddenly prevented with a lot of choices you need to make.  Where do you send them to school?  Do you buy them trendy clothes?  What do you feed them?  What sort of toys and entertainment do you allow?

We found ourselves struggling a lot over our diaper decision.  Since babies can wear 10 diapers a day easily, we’ll probably have to buy (and dispose of 5,000+ diapers) before we start potty-training.

We actually live in a great time for diapers.  In addition to cloth and disposable diapers, they are also starting to manufacture flushable diapers, such as gDiapers.  There are so many choices that would make any cave-woman jealous.

We really wanted a diaper that wouldn’t sit in the landfill (5,000 times), but my husband wasn’t keen on the “yuckiness” of cloth.  So we gave flushables a price, despite the extra price.

So far, we’ve been very happy.  They are actually more absorbent than the disposable diapers we tried, which means his onesies and sheets last longer.

Being a parent has made us confront a lot of questions that are usually easy to side-skirt.  (How important is the environment — compared to cheaper diapers) and it’s really made us ask who we want to me.  We’ve learned a lot about ourselves by the choices we make for our son.

This blog is out… the baby is crying :)

How to Insert a Tampon (or Why I Quit Ballet)

Ballet Shoes
When I first got my period, I was given a box of pads and tampons so I could decide which I preferred.

The problem was the tampons were super hard impossible to insert. I tried to use the instructional pamphlet, but it didn’t explain enough for me to understand.

I felt stuck.

Helpless.

I loved ballet, but was scared to continue taking  lessons.  I didn’t want to wear a leotard with my massive, bulky pads visible.

It took me almost 6 months to figure our how to insert a tampon.  I realized that you use it more horizontally than straight up like I had imagined.  I felt so relieved to figure that out… but by then I had quit ballet and missed out on a summer of swimming when I had my period.

As scary as it sounded at the time, I wished I had asked my mum about tampons.  It’s much better to go through an awkward 5 minute conversation than dread your period for the next six months!  I gave up something I loved and feel alone because I lacked the courage to ask a question.

If you’re a teen, talk to your mother.  They can answer questions better than any corporate pamphlet.  I promise it won’t be as embarrassing as you think it will be!

Blossom Gets Her First Period

Blossom Logo

Blossom Logo courtesy of Wikipedia and NBC.

In the show Blossom, the main character has to deal with the embarrassment brought on by buying tampons. To her horror a boy from school happens to be the cashier. Luckily her best friend, Six, brings some over after she fails to buy any.

Blossom wished she had a mother she could ask questions to about her period.  (Her mother didn’t live at home.)  This episode highlights not only how important it is for young girls to have someone who they can talk to about the transitions in their life, but also how that may not always be their mother. The definition of “mother”  for everyone is completely different.

It was heart warming for me that Six offered her own mother for Blossom to talk to… and how Six was there a friend.  This episode highlights why we need a circle of woman to share our knowledge.  Every woman has had a different experience and is uniquely suited to help someone else.

Thankfully, there is no shortage of women in my world, but there may be in someone else’s world… so share your knowledge.  It never hurts to start a dialog.

Is brown period blood normal? Yes!

Brown Rust

When I first got my period, my blood was brown for the first month, which really confused me.

I was way too embarrassed to ask if it was normal. It took all the courage I had to announce to my mother that I had my period.  I couldn’t imagine summoning the bravery to ask her if my period was considered normal.

Luckily for me, I had my answer next month, when my period changed to a normal red colour. But I was still left with plenty of other questions like how to insert tampons.

I had been given a pamphlet about periods, but that didn’t cut it for me.  I wanted to know a lot of things the pamphlet didn’t cover.  What I really needed was the guts to talk to my mother. But because I believed that periods were something to be embarrassed about, I suffered in silence.

My dream is that girls will have the courage to talk to their mothers (or other women they trust) about periods.  Periods are a natural part of life and there’s no reason to be scared of them…. but they’re so different than everything else you experienced as a kid that a few comforting conversations can make all the difference.

Cosby Show: Rudy’s First Period Helps Girls With Theirs

Cosby Show

Courtesy of the Cosby Show

I remember the first time Rudy got her period on the Cosby Show. I had always wanted to be a member of that family — well who didn’t? There was always so much laughter and love floating around. I was very interested to see how they would deal with their daughter’s first period. Would it be in a way that I would have enjoyed?

Mrs. Huxtable declared that she wanted Rudy’s experience to be better than hers.  She didn’t want Rudy believing all the rubbish her friends would have told her, such as sharks would follow you to the shore if you swam in the ocean.   So Mrs. Huxtable decided to have a woman’s day for her daughters: a special day where they could choose to do whatever they wanted. Vanessa went out for dinner in the city, but Rudy was embarrassed and was not interested in celebrating.

As an adult looking back, I can understand both points of views. As a mother and someone who has years of periods under her belt, I know periods are nothing to be embarrassed by.  They are something to be celebrated (and something that allowed me to have a beautiful son).  But I also vividly remember when I was eleven and scared.  It was so tough to talk to anyone about “woman stuff” — even though I had so many questions.

I am grateful that the script writers weren’t scared to have an open dialogue about periods in a time when it was never mentioned on television.  It was refreshing that they focused on a real mother-daughter relationship instead of making easy cramp/headache jokes.  Thanks!

The more we talk about periods, the more they are included in our culture in a positive way — that means girls hopefully won’t be so scared and alone when they have their first period.  That was the goal of my book, On The Day I Got My Period, and I’m also glad that was the goal of the Cosby’s.

How to make your daughter’s first period special

Fancy dinner
For too many girls, their first period comes and goes very unceremoniously.  They often feel alone, scared, and not really sure what is happening.  Here are some ideas to help treat your daughter’s first period with the ceremony it deserves.

Go out to a fancy meal:  Have your daughter dress in her fanciest gown and have a mother-daughter meal out at a nicer restaurant.  She may feel bloated and gross, so show her that periods can be elegant and beautiful.

Buy your daughter flowers:  Having your first period can be frightening.  If she’s too embarrassed to leave the house with you or doesn’t want her brothers to find out, buy her some flowers and discretely leave them in her bedroom.

Write your daughter a letter:  Getting your first period traditionally means that you are “now a woman”.  So write your daughter a heart-felt letter about what being a woman has meant to you.  Pass on wisdom, funny stories and show her she is supported.

Tell her about your first period:  Get the book “On The Day I Got  My Period”, which is filled with stories from around the world about women’s first periods.  At the end of the book, be sure to write what your first period was like.  She can read the book in the privacy of her bedroom and hopefully it will give her the courage to ask any questions she may have.

Buy her jewelry: Pick out a piece of jewelry that says “growing up” to you.  Wrap it up nicely and explain why you got her the present and what the present means to you.

Plan a spa day:  Treat your daughter to an evening of relaxing.  Take her to a massage, hot tub, mud bath, or even turn your bathroom into a spa.  Decorate it with tea candles, buy some bubble bath.  Turn down the lights and let her soak in the tub.  Maybe even take the rest of the family out so she can have some quiet time.

Go see a comedy: Sometimes laughter is the best thing to take your mind off of all the emotions of your her first period. Take her out to play or movie that will have you both rolling in the isles. (And don’t forget to treat yourselves to popcorn… it’s a big day!)

Remember every girl is different:  Your daughter is different than every other woman (and all of your other children), so tailor the day to her personality.  If she’s easily embarrassed, avoid anything that will alert the rest of the family.