Thursday, September 29, 2011

Little Girl No More

Menarche... the first occurrence of menstruation in a female. I was in high school when I had my menarche. I was 14 years old. Most of my friends had their monthly periods already by then and so I expected it to happen to me at any time. I knew what it was all about and although it still came as a surprise it was not scary at all.

At 10 and a half years old my daughter had her menarche. I saw the changes in her body and was expecting it but at the same time I was hoping for it not to happen this year. It did happen and psychologically, my daughter is not yet ready. She is still very much a kid. She got scared when she saw the blood the first time but everything went well during the first month. On the second month she cried. She thought there was something wrong with her. I had to explain to her once again that it is something that happens every month.

I am not yet ready. I know that my kids will grow up and reach milestones in their lives but I realize that I'm not ready to let them grow this fast. Although most changes happen only physically, it cannot be denied that there will also be changes in how we deal with them.

Although my daughter is still a child in so many ways, she now experiences more restrictions due to her bodily changes. It's like a small kid trapped in a woman's body. I feel sorry for her.

More girls now experience menarche at an early age compared to the girls during my younger years. Could it be related to their diet? Processed foods are aplenty, hormones are introduced to livestock. Who knows what's in our food nowadays? One thing is for sure, my daughter is now a lady but she's not yet ready to be one.