Period Gift Box for Menarche: Image

Period Gift Box ideas for Menarche and beyond

Published 18 June 2022

"Menarche" is the first time a girl menstruates, aka has her first period. I love that there's a specific word for it (just like there's a word for becoming a mother - matresence). While for some families and cultures it is just another day, a normal occurrence, other cultures and families celebrate it as a rite of passage. However you want to treat its occurrence for your daughter is up to you.

Whatever you do do, please make sure she knows it is going to happen so that she is prepared and knows about her female anatomy, the workings of her uterus, and how to care for her body.

Girls start usually somewhere between 9-12, and if she starts at age 12 and enters menopause at 52, she might have aprox 480 periods in her life. How you treat it, and teach her to treat her body, will have a lasting impact on how she feels as a grown woman.
There is nothing dirty or shameful about a normal, natural, bodily function that happens to almost every woman in the world. There’s sisterhood of women who also share your experiences!

What you want to include to celebrate will obviously depend on your budget and your daughter. You know her best! If you want to go above and beyond, some women put together a special gift box to make it a special event and to help make menarche something to not be feared. It could be as simple as a packet of pads and a block of chocolate or you can go all out.

Here are some ideas to put in the box!

Things to put in a gift box:

Period undies
Pads (cloth reusable)
Pads (disposable, cotton or organic)
Liners
Tampons (small)
Moon journal,
Diary,
Ruby earrings,
China tea cup,
Raspberry leaf tea, (known as the "woman's herb") (or a menstrual blend tea, or just her favourite warm drink)
Mood tinctures ( Motherwort or a menstrual blend)
Chocolate,
Heat pack, (or hot water bottle)
Magnesium spray or Magnesium tablets (for cramps)
Lavender essential oil
Mood essential oils, single or blend
Sleep spray/oil/cream (for insomnia)
Splash blanket (cosy bed protection)
Red roses,
Bath salts,
Satin pillowcase,
Satin PJs/new PJs (red)
New cotton underwear
Period swimming undies (if she doesn't want tampons or is *too young*)
Cute zip pouch (for carrying period items around)
Period tracker app or paper calendar
Feminine/baby wipes
Paracetamol/ibuprofen
Fluffy socks
Oodie (or throw rug or weighted blanket for couch days)
A letter from you to her (how much you love her, advice, memories from when you were a girl, etc)
A book about her cycle (see list below for some suggestions)

Monthly Gifts:

Even though menarche is a once off, periods happen every month (or so, teens are often irregular for a few years). This gives you a chance to take care of your daughter and show her how to listen to her body when she needs a rest. When she is older, she will remember how you let her sleep in and you made warm chicken soup for her when she was on her period and she'll be grateful for the good memories! When she feels loved and taken care of during a time that often comes with pain and other symptoms for some women, she will be resilient and able to speak up for herself. She will know how she wants and deserves to be treated as an adult. She won’t put up with people downplaying her pain or “mansplaining” how her period “should” be to her. And if something is not right, you’ll be able to get a PCOS or endometriosis diagnosis a lot faster rather than telling her to “toughen up buttercup, it’s only blood”. Your cycle is your “Fifth Vital sign”. Women have been socially groomed into putting themselves in the background for years and they have been made invisible when it comes to health and research. Model for her what mindful womanhood can be. Sometimes you’ll be out there presenting to class or running marathons or caring for your children on your period, and sometimes you’ll be feet up on the couch with a cup of tea. All women are different. And every cycle is different. Take each period one month at a time. You want her to say, "I am a strong woman because a strong woman raised me."

“Taking care of yourself doesn’t mean me first, it means me too.” L.R. Knost

Some things you can do every month:

Day off school for physical or mental health (day 1 or 2 of a period is often the most painful or heaviest bleed and who wants to do PE and risk a leak then?)
Chocolate
Special walk or outing with you
Movie night or games night or night in
Choice of evening meal (comfort food)
Check in with her about her body and how she’s feeling about puberty and if she needs any questions answered (maybe save this one for midcycle when she is happier if PMS is bad)
Something off the first list (you can build up the box slowly over 12-24 months, a gift at a time)

Books about menarche and periods

“Menstrual blood is the only source of blood that is not traumatically induced. Yet in modern society, this is the most hidden blood, the one so rarely spoken of and almost never seen, except privately by women…” Judy Grahn

Cycle Savvy by Toni Weschler
Care and Keeping of You: The Body Book for Girls by Valorie Schafer
Care and Keeping of You 2: For older girls by Dr Cara Natterson
Girl Stuff by Kaz Cook
Period Queen by Lucy Peach
My Period: Find your flow and feel proud of your period! by Milli Hill
If you don’t want to buy a book, there are blog sites dedicated to helping girls learn about their bodies, like Libra https://lovelibra.com/au/libra-girl

Premade kit ideas:

Take care of yourself and your daughters during your menstruation. Thanks for reading!

Period Gift Box for Menarche: Text

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Period Gift Box for Menarche: Text