Once a month, I get my period. I know, shocking. Along with every other woman in this world, I have a ‘my time of the month.’ I’m sorry if this makes you uncomfortable. I’m sorry if this topic is unbearable for you. Actually, I’m not sorry. I don’t really care if this makes you uncomfortable because guess what? Menstruation is a natural, human behavior. So, if this topic is really too dreadful for you, then please stop reading now because we are about to get serious about our lady business.

     As you can probably already tell, I am an open book when it comes to my period. I almost have to be when I have experienced it about 100+ times. So it breaks my heart when I see girls hiding pads or tampons in their pockets on the way to the bathroom. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve asked someone for a tampon and they make me awkwardly reach inside their backpack so no one sees them taking it out.

     Girls, we all know what I am talking about and we all have our special way of hiding it. Whether it be in our pocket, clenched in the palm of our hand or my favorite – in the sleeve of my shirt.

     There are multiple wikihow articles and countless Youtube videos on how to hide your ‘supplies.’ I’m sorry, but ladies this is ridiculous! It is time that we stopped feeling ashamed when we have our period. Why do we need to go out of our way to hide something that we literally can’t control?

      Sadly, the stigma against periods is so much more than just having to hide a tampon. Woman’s feelings are discredited daily because they are on their period or supposedly believed to be. Can’t a girl have a bad day without being on a visit from ‘aunt flow?’ Can’t a girl cry without it being her ‘shark week?’

     And, do you know what’s worst of all? The constant stress about bleeding through your pants. Trust me, I know it is gross to have blood on your pants but I nor any other girl can control this. Yes, we can double up on pads or change our tampons every four hours on the dot but we will still have accidents. We’re human. The embarrassment that comes with this is truly unbearable (even more unbearable than it is for some people to talk about periods).

     Being on your period sucks – It’s the truth. The cramps suck. The bloating sucks. The headaches suck. Everything about it just sucks. But you know what doesn’t suck? The ability to have a baby. The truly miraculous thing called childbirth. Don’t worry mom and dad, I don’t want a baby anytime soon. You know what I do want? I want women of all ages to not hide their tampons or pads, I want women to be able to be moody without being blamed for being on their period. I want all of us to freely talk about periods. Boys, girls, men and women.

     There’s going to come a day for all of us when we no longer get our periods and when we lose the ability to have kids. Yes, we have a while until that happens but for now, we should not take for the granted the miracle that is periods.