I was 10 and it was just at the beginning of summer after 4th grade, which where I live was the first year of "growth and development" which was really basic sex ed. I was watching a movie with my sister and I thought I had peed myself. I went to the bathroom, saw the blood, wadded up some toilet paper and didn't tell my mom for a couple months. Eventually I had to explain why all my underwear was missing. I never got a talk, but when school rolled around my mom got me a new backpack with a What's Happening to My Body type book and Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret.

What sucked the most was having it during the next school year. I guess my school didn't expect girls to get their periods that young, so they didn't have bins in the stalls. I had to time when I changed so no one would see me disposing of my pad or tampon in the trash can by the sink.