How do I tell my 9 year old about menstration?

Do you mean her period? I am pretty sure that is what you mean. Are you a father or a mother and is she asking you?

Forgot to spell check - yes I do mean period. I am a mother and this is my only daughter.

Is she asking? My daughter is 10 and we talked a long time ago. You just need to tell her all of the needed info. A lot of girsls her age are already on this road, and before she gets info from her peers you should talk to her about it!!

No, she's not asking. But how do I start without scaring her? I don't know where to begin or how to explain.

I started by leaving a pad out on the bathroom counter. My daughter, who was 6 at the time, asked me what it was. That was how we started talking.

She started her period last summer (age 12) and had no difficulty or embarrassment coming to me to let me know.

Thanks for your input J9. I found your bio very interesting. We have a couple of things in common. I was a legal assistant for 10 years also, but in the corporate/commercial area. I changed careers to be a stay at home mom. I lost my mother to breast cancer 7 years ago with no prior history of breast cancer in the family. Good for you for all you've accomplished. Best Wishes!

Thank you Donna, it does seem as though we have some things in common!

As for your dilemma, I never had the "brids and bees" talk with my daughter, I was honest and open to every question.

For instance, with my daughter, from birth, she had a vagina, not a pee pee, or a woo woo, or a who who, she had a vagina. It made it easier for her to feel comfortable with her body, who she is.

She is currently in sex ed and comes home laughing... Mom, I could teach this darn class. She is a straight A student who plans on going to college to earn her doctorate in Microbiology or Oceanography, she hasn't decided yet.

But I felt that all areas of communication should be kept open and honest so that she learns directly from me rather than in the girls locker room at school.

How do I tell my 9 year old about menstration?

Hello... I was 9 when my period started and my parents hadn't prepared me. I was scared out of my mind because it started at school. My advice... be honest and just talk to her. I'm a 34 year old Kindergarten teacher, and in this day in age they are more ready than you give them credit for. Honesty is the best policy and just lay it out straight. Even at 6, they tend to strive for being a "big girl" and just use that as a spring board to talking about things that "big girls" do. Then lead into a conversation about changes that happen in a "big girl". Obviously, at 9, the wording should be geared a little more maturely than for that of a 5/6 year old. But trust me, better to prepare her a little early, than risk it happening and her not being emotionally prepared for the changes in her body. That was much more frightening. I know at the time (as irrational as it was), I thought I was dying because I associated bleeding with death. Just talk to her. You'll be glad you did!