

“Mumma You’re Bleeding!” How I Explained Menstruation To My Young Son

Posted: November 7, 2019

Explaining menstruation to your young son might be a tough task but this mother nailed it with her explanation of it! Read on for an easy way to explain periods!

He is only ten years old and you may think it is too early to explain the subject to a boy. Yes, I was also in a dilemma when he pointed out to my stained night gown early in the morning and screamed, “Mumma you are hurt, it’s bleeding.”

For a moment I paused, thought of agreeing with him and pretend to be hurt. But the very next moment, my instinct told me to explain the truth to him in his way.  And I replied “I am not hurt beta, I am absolutely fine. However, there is a sad story behind this mark, you come back home from school and then I will tell it to you.”

I benefited in two ways: I got some time to prepare my own self before narrating to him. And him with the incentive of new story hurriedly prepared himself for school.

It was during our afternoon chit-chat that he asked “Mumma you promised me a story.” And I started to explain the most important womanly wonder to my little one, I tired to keep the description as simple and childlike as I could.

Explaining periods to my son

“You know what these that you eat for breakfast every day, are? They are pre-born chicken, you can say that we didn’t give them enough time to turn into chickens. They were destined to reach or stomach as an omelette or a poached egg.

“Like every this, every animal is born from eggs. Birds, reptiles, amphibians and fish, the babies come from the mother’s belly as eggs. They undergo a number of changes and later take the shape of their baby,” I told him.

“However, since mammals are the most developed animals, their eggs remain inside. They take shape of the baby in the mother’s belly and finally come out as a cute little one. Now the problem is that, during a life-span of any animal, lots and lots of eggs are produced. If all the eggs turn into babies, the earth will be overcrowded. So it’s a natural phenomenon that most of the eggs get destroyed in some way and only a few turned into a baby.

Why do women bleed?

“For us, humans, the eggs get spoilt in mumma’s tummy and come out as blood. This makes us a little sick for a few days. That’s what you saw in the morning. Now just imagine, how sad it is that to keep a proper balance in the animal kingdom, everyday, countless eggs are being spoilt before they turn into babies,” I concluded and waited for him to ask questions.

To this, he asked, “How is it decided that which egg will be grow up and which will be spoiled?”

“It’s all God’s wish beta, we have no control over it”

“Then, God is very bad and heartless! The blood on your clothes could easily be my sibling, but he didn’t allow that. And also made you unwell” was the final tearful judgement.

I was relieved that my first lesson on “Menstruation is just like any other physical issue. It is natural. And there is nothing to hide or be shy of. Instead a lot of care should be taken towards a menstruating woman” went so smoothly.

Maybe he will turn into a sensible man in the future who will have no stigma and taboo towards these painful days.

Picture credits: Pexels

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A Freelance writer Tweeter: Priyamrita Chatterjee@piyamrita

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