When my mother first explained to me what periods were (after I asked her what tampons were for), I misunderstood, and for years, until about age 7 or 8, I thought women had their periods constantly, not just one week a month. I was so scared of growing up because I didn't want to bleed all the time! (Thankfully I didn't know about period cramps either, or my fear would have been much worse, haha).

Emilyn

My friends little brother found her tampons in her room. He took them out to his father & asked what they were. His father told him they were special ear plugs. So when her brother didn't want to listen to what was being said he would search for the special ear plugs.

Winnie

the spring before i got my period my class at school had been given the whole "birds and bees" discussion. well, they nice lady that talked to all us girls had explained that when we would get our first period we would see a "tiny red spot" in out panties. i believed her. that summer i was at camp and one day i found all this brown stuff in my panties...i thought that i had some horrible disease. i didn't tell a soul out of fear they'd send me away. turns out that "brown stuff" was my period. my mom explained that often a girl's first period would come out as brown and not red, and unless i had just barely started (like only a few minutes had passed) the "spot" wouldn't be small. to this day i feel that woman that talked to my class is a horrible liar.

thought i knew it all

I had a friend that thought that you peed and bled out of the smae hole so she took her tampon out every time she went pee until my other fried told her the truth.lol

Anon

my friend was at my sleepover and 1 time she had to go to the bathroom, the next thing we knew she was screaming soooo loud that that a few neighbours came over! she was screaming !!!!!!! I'M DYING!!!!! we all rushed over to her and relised that she was just having her period! she then had to go home to be explained what a period is!

a still laughing friend!!!

I used to think that tampons, if left in too long, would start to absorb all the fluids in your body, and that Toxic Shock Syndrome was when you had dried out and needed to go to the hospital to be watered.
I was a weird kid.

Rach

My niece always looked at me for advice. She was getting of age and we talked about menstrual stage. When her period finally started, she was at school and she called me to see what she should do. In that I couldn't break away from work, I simply told her to "put paper down there." She called me back several hours later and said that the paper was hurting her. I don't know if I asked her why or what, but her response was that the notebook paper was hurting her! I guess when I told her to put paper down there i was assuming she knew I meant toilet paper and not knowing at such a young age of 9 yrs old, she put notebook paper instead of toilet paper!

Angie R. T.

This REALLY happened to me: When I was about 6 years old, I rolled my hair up in my Mom's soft cotton rollers. When my Mom saw me, she took them off of me very quickly. I said, "Aren't these for your curling your hair?" My Mom said, "No, they're my sanitary napkins."

Ellen

When I was little, I was talking to my friend Will about periods. I told him what they were, and when I was done, he ran crying to his mom screaming and terrified that he was going to bleed through his penis. Later we had to correct him and he was very embarassed.

Nora

when I was younger, I thought that the Q-tips and cotton balls that my mom would use were for use during her periods, because sometimes they had red and brown stuff left over on them. Finally, after actually seeing my mom use them to put on makeup, I realized that they were actually for putting makeup on.

Crane

When I was little I thought tampons were just rolled up pads and you would use it by taking it out of the applicator and unroll it. It wasn't until I watched a video in 5th grade explaining about periods and pads and tampons that I understood what it was.

annonymous

Every month for three days my mom would sleep on the floor. She would not do any household work and rest. She also would not let anyone touch her. If we kids did touch her by mistake we would have to go take a bath. That used to be the custom in my society twenty years ago. As a kid when I asked her why we couldnot touch her,I was told that she had stepped on dog doo. Later I found out it was the period. And for a long time i thought women get periods when they step on dog doo.

Anon

Until I was in about the 5th grade, I believed that boys used jock straps to hold on sanitary pads! Why wouldn't I believe it, my older brother told me about it!

Ruth

I used to believe that maxi pads were beds for barbies and people, and I never understood why I could never fit on one. So I used to stick them to the floors and walls. My mom once had to show our old house to some realtors(of course they were all men). As she was walking up the stairs she had to rip them from the floors and walls witht the realtors following behind snickering.

June Courtney

Until he was 12 and my mom explained it to him, my brother was convinced that pads were "vagina protectors" and were worn to keep any germs from getting into the vaginas. He even demonstrated how they were put on to me (very gross), by sticking the adhesive side to the crotch. I tried to tell him he was wrong, but he wouldn't listen. It was very funny when it hurt him to take it off, though.

He also believed that tampons were inserted into someone (man or woman)'s butt if they had to poop but didn't want to because they were in a public area or something. The tampon would stop the poop coming out so the person could wait until they got home to go in privacy.

Laura

In like 5th grade, I didnt know what it meant to have your period, so I asked my friend. She told me it was when you bled from your private parts... I guess I figured she meant breasts or something, because i ran to her one day and was like "Nope, Nicki, you're wrong, you bleed from down there, not your boobs!" and she looked at me like DUH.

Brittany

A couple of years ago my cousin ran into my room and said she started her period, i went into the bathroom and found a box of band aids on the floor

Anon

when i had sex-ed in elementary school, the nurse explained what a period was and showed us pictures. i guess i didn't see too well, because i was so confused. even though i was really shy, i went up to her after class and asked about it, but still didn't get it. i thought a period was a red dot that you got somewhere on your body...like chicken pox.

Anon

my mother would tell me what a period was and how i was gonna get one i believed that she was lying to me so she could scared me( she loves to scare me) and that she told the whole world to keep lying so i could fall for it.

Thalia

when i was little, i walked into the bathroom and looked in the toilet to see blood in it. horrified i ran to my mother and told her what i have found. she said that when girls get a certain age, they get their periods, which makes them pee out blood, and that it was hers. i then thought that when i a girl got her period, she would always have it, but could hold it in like pee.. was i ever wrong.

ahhhh