Tampons

You are four years old.

For your birthday, you tell me, you want an entire box of tampons.

“What is this part for?” you ask.

It’s not the first time we’ve talked about tampons and periods because it’s not the first time you’ve had to entertain yourself with the contents of my bathroom cabinet as I do my hair and makeup. But it is the first time you’ve figured out how to eject the tightly packed white cylinder from the shiny blue plastic applicator. And this, you have discovered, is great fun. In fact, when Little Sister gets her own tampon to play with, you graciously eject hers as well.

image by funkypoodle on Canva

“Well, when I’m on my period, I put it up in my vagina and push this part up and pull this part out and the white part stays in my body to absorb the blood.”

I’m proud of the way I say this like I’m explaining tick-tack-toe, and you look utterly unaffected as you hold the “white part” by its funny little tail.

I’m practicing these words out loud before they make you blush. And since you aren’t blushing, why should I?

So you keep asking your questions and I’ll keep answering them with pale cheeks because I never want you to feel foreign in your own body. Let’s keep being unashamed together so that someday when you actually need that tampon, I will be the first to know.

And yes, you can have a box of tampons for your birthday. Just please, once you discover what happens when they get wet, don’t put them in the toilet all at once.