Breaking the Ice: A Gentle Start to the Period Conversation

I talk about the moment I realized my daughter was growing up and how her curiosity about feminine products nudged me toward preparing for the period conversation. I share stories from my own childhood, the experience of raising an only child, and why I wanted my daughter to feel prepared instead of confused. You’ll also hear real comments from other moms and the heart behind The Period Book Ice-Breaker Mom and Daughter Series.
In this episode, we talk about:
• How to ease into the period conversation without awkwardness
• Why early, gentle conversations matter
• The story behind creating The Period Book
• Encouragement for moms raising daughters in the pre‑teen years
• A special one‑time giveaway of nine signed copies
Giveaway details:
The first nine listeners who reach out with the message “The Period Book for me” and share what they enjoy about the podcast will receive a free signed copy. You can contact me through the email in the podcast description, Buzzsprout fan mail, or YouTube comments.
This episode is a reminder that you’re not alone, we’re figuring this out together, one honest conversation at a time.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:04

Hi amazing only child mums, I'm Paul Comic, your part-time working man friend who loves Yahweh, family and fans. Welcome to the Family of One, which your joys and adventures of raising an only child. Expect relatable stories, parenting laughs, and faithful tips. Let's make small family life enjoyable. Woohoo! Hi everyone, and welcome to the Family of One Child podcast. I'm your host for comment. Yes, and if you're listening today, one we are friends. That's right. I'm your new mom friend. And chances are you are a mom with an only child. And maybe you have a daughter who's growing up right before your eyes. Well, you know that moment when you look at your daughter and think, Wow, she's amazing! She's getting taller, she's changing, and she's becoming her own person, and then things happen, and you're starting to realize your child is getting closer to the pre-teen stage. Mm-hmm. That's where I'm at. Where you start, where you where you need to start having conversations about her body. Yep. A few years ago, Olivia would ask about the feminine products she sees in the bathroom, and I'll give her a quick version just to keep things light. And I'll say something like, Oh, you know, those are from mommy, and after I had you, my body started to change a bit. So when, for example, I would laugh or sneeze or cough, or apparently when I jump up and down, you know, like really high. For example, like someone like those people in the Tom Cruise action movies, like high like that. I mean, I'm emphasizing as if I'm in an action movie, and let's be honest, me jumping that high is never gonna happen. So getting back to reality, when I told her when I laugh or sneeze, sometimes mommy pees a little bit, and the pad will help me to keep my underwear dry. You're like, okay, thank you for sharing that information. And we would both laugh in the bathroom, and then I'll briefly mention a little bit my about my period without going into any details. But then even in those moments, I felt a nudge, and that nudge was one day I would need to explain things about the period in a way that didn't feel rushed or awkward, and I did not want to freak you out about getting a period, about having a first period, but and I wanted to prepare her gently. When I was growing up, I had so much support for my mom and my older sisters, and I never had to figure things out alone. You know, there were always someone there when I had questions about my period or someone I needed to talk to or to answer the awkward things. I and if I didn't want to, you know, ask my mom, I could always ask one of my sisters. You know, I was the youngest, so I had that great support, but as a mom with an only child is different. My daughter, she doesn't have any older siblings, and it's just her and my husband and I, you know, we don't have a grandmother living with us, nor do we have another like an auntie or you know, an older person that she could talk to. It's just me to guide her, and so that is exactly why I wanted to show up for her in this area with clarity, gentleness, and confidence, even when the topic feels a little uncomfortable, and then maybe you felt that too. Maybe you've had that moment where you think, okay, I know this conversation is really important, but where do I start? And if that's you, you're in the right place. We are figuring this out together, mom to mom, friend to friend. So I went digging online because I wanted to understand what other moms with an early child or moms just in general experiencing this too, and it was good. I the stories I found were real, they were familiar, and I wanted to share some of the comments or some of the things that stood out for me. So one mom shared her certainty about timing. She said, My daughter is eight years old, and I'm trying to figure out the best time to talk to her about the body changes, and I'm just starting to realize how close she is getting to puberty. Oh, that's me too. I felt that too. And another mom admitted how easy it is to avoid the conversation. She said, I know I need to have the talk, but I keep putting it off because I felt awkward. And I guess that was mean when I was talking about the feminine products, and I was saying, Oh, mom uses that because I pee and I sneeze, and I would just mention the word period. If I really peeled back the onion, I felt awkward, and I didn't want to have that conversation when she was six. So I could relate to that mom too. And another mom said, You but you might relate, not having the talk means she could start her period unprepared and confused. And you know, I can relate to the last comment because I did not. I want my daughter to be prepared and not confused when she gets her first period. So, yeah, okay, so before I go on any further, I want to jump in to the shout-outs. Shout outs, okay. Why am I Annie doing the singing? Oh my goodness. I want to give the shout-outs to the amazing listeners, to the moms who are doing their best, who are listening. Moms, I want to give a shout out to you. You are doing the best you can with the time that's given, with the resources you have. So I want to give a shout out to you for those who listened to the last episode. I'm going to give a shout out to you. But if I missed you today, it's because I recorded before your listen came through. So I'll catch you in the next last episode. So here is to celebrate the amazing moms and the shout-outs and the places that are tuning in. First one is to the Tampa, Florida, Springfield, Massachusetts, London, England, New York, New York, Simsbury, Connecticut, Sydney, Australia, and Goshen, Indiana. I want to thank you all for your support, for listening, for tuning in. This podcast of the family of one, to listening to your friend 4. You all are amazing. So I'll say it again. To Tampa, Florida, woohoo! Springfield, Massachusetts, thank you so much. London, England, you are amazing. New York, New York, oh absolutely wonderful. Sandsbury, Connecticut, thank you so much. Sydney, Australia, you are amazing. In Goshen, Indiana, oh thank you. I appreciate you listeners. I appreciate your mums. Okay, before we go even further, I want to do something special for this episode. I am giving away nine free signed copies of my book, The Period, to the first nine listeners who reach out to me. Yep, this is a one-time getaway. Once those nine are gone, that's it, ladies. So say again, depending on where you're listening from, you can contact me in any way that's easiest for you. You can email me using the address in the podcast description. You can message me through the Buzz Sprout fan mail, or you can leave me a comment on YouTube. However, you reach out, I will reach back to you. So what you do is you send me a message, could be the title, the subject that says the period book for me. So remember, as long as you say the period book for me, and then you tell me what you enjoy about the podcast, that will be helpful, ladies. So the period book for me, and then you tell me what you enjoy about the podcast. The first nine messages, you will receive a signed copy, and I'll mail it right to you for free. Let you know, and then the reason why it's nine and not ten is because my daughter is turning nine next month in February, and this is just one way to celebrate her growing up. So, my period book is an icebreaker, it's a mom and daughter icebreaker series, and you're probably asking, what is icebreaker book? Well, think of this book as an icebreaker at a party, you know, an icebreaker, the the thing that helps you relax and feel comfortable. This is this book is like your wing person, it's about making a potential scary milestone or an awkward milestone, maybe feel emotionally safe. So, as a mom of a soon-to-be nine-year-old, I wanted to create a resource for myself and other moms that help foster ongoing open dialogue without feeling shame or awkward or weird, and I wanted our child to always feel like I wanted our child to always know that they have a safe place to turn to, a place where their questions are welcome and feelings are valid. That's what I wanted to create for these icebreaker series. So maybe you're listening right now and thinking, I wish I had something like this when I was growing up, like you had an icebreaker book, and so that's that's why I created this book. The original period book that I wrote for Olivia was I wrote that a year ago, and I wanted something for her that wasn't too wordy or overwhelming, and I wanted to keep the illustration simple because she loves horses. I used simple horse themes to help you feel comfortable about the period topic. I had her horse Lola in the book, I had her horse trainers, her grandparents, and I talked about self-care in the way that she could relate to and read together. She really loved the book. This the period book that I wrote for her, and I felt personal. And when I showed it to my friends and family, many of my mom friends who had daughters similar age to Olivia asked if I would create a generic version that they could share with their daughters, and that's how this book came to life. So once again, I went digging online to see how other moms were approaching this type of conversations, and the honesty was refreshing. One mom said, When talking to a child about ministration, keep it simple and factual, use age-appropriate language. And another mom shared why openness matters. She said, I plan to be very open about our bodies because our bodies are super cool. Hello, I totally agree. My body is super cool because I can move from A to B and even go through the alphabet and I can still breathe and do the dishes and nap afterwards of doing a long line of laundry. Okay, getting back on track. And another another mom said, She said, it was hard to talk to her mom about the period because her mom made her feel awkward. Oh my goodness. I feel sorry, I feel for the mom because I didn't have that, but for her, she said, you know, her experience, her mom made her made her feel awkward. And so this made me when I created a generic version, I still wanted to keep things gentle, use clear words that would be encouraging both to the mother and to her child. So as I wrap up, I just want to speak directly to you, mom, because you're listening. You can do this if you're feeling a bit nervous. Remember the best conversations start with love, and you are amazing, mom. I mean, you are doing the best you can, and I say that with the time that's given, with the resources you have, you are truly amazing, and we are truly in this together. I mean, I am walking this journey out as I'm sharing this with you. So this is just my final, this is just my research and just sharing what I'm doing with my daughter. If you're already like my daughter's turning nine next month, but if you've already talked to this topic to your child and you have fully uh confident and you have an amazing resource, I just want to say you are amazing. Share it. I would love to hear your stories. Write to me, and why? Because we can be encouraged, we would love to. Many moms in this podcast, or maybe they want to hear your story, how you went out about it. What resources can you recommend? I just want to say thank you for even taking the time to reach out to share your story, how you did it. That would be amazing. And one mom actually said offered this encouragement: let yourself feel uncomfortable and do it anyways. And another mom reminded us saying, please teach your daughters, there's nothing weird about it, just talk about it. There you go, she kept it simple, sweet. So, just a quick reminder before I wrap up, I'm giving nine free signed copies of my book to the first nine listeners to reach out. Remember, send me a message that saves the period book for me and tell me why you enjoy this podcast. I mean, you are amazing, you are doing the best you can with the time that's given, with the resources you have. You are amazing, mom. Uh, truly, you are helping to raise a wonderful child, you're contributing to the community, you are loving yourself. Please love yourself as well. Say lovely things about yourself as you're saying lovely things about your husband and saying lovely things about your child, you're amazing. So, to the nine, remember, once those nine books are gone, once I get those nine emails or contacts, it's gone. So, if you would like a book, a free book, I will ship it out to you for free. I just gotta know where I'm I'm sending it, and you know, it'll be a signed copy. Be sure to contact me. So, I just want to say thank you for letting me be part of your journey. Just this is just a small part, it's like part of a jigsaw puzzle. In regards to the journey about our daughter, you know, our daughters going and experiencing their first period. Now, remember, this book is an icebreaker, it just helps you start that conversation so you can take it to wherever you would like. It's just a starter. If you're wanting to know, how do I start this conversation? This is just a resource that I used with my daughter, and it has helped us. Now, when she asks about the period, she's engaging me, she's coming to me, asking questions. Like, for example, the other day, she's like, Mom, you know, I would love to put on a pad, you know, and I'm thinking, okay, I have different sizes, but the smallest one I had was a panty liner. So I said, sure, you know, you can put it on. Well, when we talked about the period book, we went and we got out one of the panty liners because it was the smallest one, and you know, she put it on, she walked around the house with it, so she felt what it was like. So she said, Mom, can I just try using one every now and then? Can I? And I said, Sure, help yourself. And I wanted her to let her know it's there, it's available, she can wear one. And then we went shopping. She goes, Oh, can we go when we go to the supermarket? Can we find one for preteens? Because there's so many different products for uh first, you know, for teenage for preteens, and so right now we're going through different brands, different sizes, small sizes for her because she's a petite girl and she's only nine. And so we found brand that she put it on. She was like, Oh no, it's too big. I didn't like it. I like a smaller one. And I said, There, I'm sure we can find more. I would love to go and find different brands that would be that you're comfortable with. So that's why I love this this uh resource I use that I created for her. Because one, she's like, mom, can we look for it? Can I talk about it more? I have a question. Does my teacher know about it? Who should I talk to at school? Wobbleniff, and so we are really engaging, and she's leading that conversation, and then now we're looking for resources. So that's why I wanted to start this just like an icebreaker, it just helps you start that conversation, and you can take it where it fits for you and your child, like the next resource. There, you can decide how deep you want to go, what are the topics, and so. So the icebreaker mom and daughter series, this is just one. And then eventually there'll be a companion book where you will get to read stories about other moms who introduce this topic. So right now we're just having the period book, but there will be a companion book where you can read uh you know stories about how they shared the period. And if you want to be part of that book, okay, I will talk about that too. And I will reach out in the podcast how I would go about it. If you want to submit submit your stories, if you want to be one of the moms, and I get to publish and talk about share your story, but that is another topic, another episode. So I just want to say once again, get your message in so you can get a free copy of the period book. Remember, please, you gotta let me know by saying the period book for me, and let me know. You gotta do, let me know why you like the podcast. Okay. Uh, thank you for letting me be part of this journey. This is for your friend, and you've been listening to the Family of One podcast. I will catch you in the next episode. Bye.