ok molly let's take a look oh yes oh that's going up just fine the games i shared with you please let someone else do the cheering for you because that's what a still slightly inflamed careful oh by the way know you know i've known molly and her family ever since she first came to school and i think you might like to know  jeannie and molly each have their own rooms but lately it seems that molly is more interested in jeannie's room than her own molly and jeannie get along well about as most sisters do me when you think i'll start having periods to oh i don't know pretty soon i suppose i was thirteen when i started so peggy's already started hairs and i'm six months older than she is well so what so i'm starting earlier so later we're all different from the way you've been acting but we shouldn't be long now one day not long after that molly came home from school forgot a day did you have today mom guess what i don't know what mom i started my first period well what do you know today tell me about it when does it start well it was this afternoon when i was changing into my gym clothes and i noticed a bit of blood on my panties and godly at first i thought well i don't know what to think and then i remembered when we talked about well then i went to see miss jesson oh my god how do you feel kind of funny like i mean i was hoping it would start soon that seems like i forgotten everything guess course right at first you probably won't be very regular most girls don't settle down for a year or so even then some girls go more than a month between periods another joyous that's normal too and eventually your body will set up its own regular time we set up molly time comes to vote well if you sit and stand straight that'll give the organs inside your body room to function better and that'll make you feel better hello oh hi peggy cherie just a minute i'll ask mom can i go swimming with teddy to morrow after school i don't think i would not be home by five thirty no it's not a good idea the first two or three days of your period you might get to know them catch cold oh that's right peggy of course i can't go swimming you know i've got the curry rats trying to do a good idea  the first couple of days good heavens molly you're going like a weed i'm going to have to let that happen down again come on i'll do it right now the talk about it and here it is a private conference no i don't think they owed you molly you know i guess you tell them well jim molly's growing up she's having her first know honey i guess you are growing up it's fun but some of the things molly used to do seem a little silly now sometimes she gets all mixed up just thinking about it she's changing from a child into an adult and it's a little confusing at times molly had lots of questions about what was happening to her it so happened i had a chance to answer some of them her teacher was sick one day and asked me to take her class and this is true of women everywhere so you see menstruation is just the natural normal process leading up to being a mother this is a diagram of the uterus or womb and these are the fallopian tubes leading to it and these the ovaries which produce the now these egg cells are far too small for us to see but once each month an egg cell will leave one of the ovaries go into the opening of the tube nearest to it and then it's on its way to the uterus now at the same time the uterus has been preparing a growing place for this egg a soft lining of blood vessels  if the egg unites with a male cell or sperm as it's on its way down the tube it is fertilized and then when it reaches the uterus it settles down in the soft lining and begins to grow into a  is not fertilized it disappears and then since the lining is no longer needed it to dissolve away and explode out of the body through an opening in the hymen which is a membrane over the opening of the  and so we say that we are menstruating yes barbara this janssen was menstruation started while some girls start when they're ten years old and someone they're sixteen or seventeen or anywhere in between but the average age seems to be about thirteen no i knew what day of the week what starts my mother starts on tuesday well mine too oh it might but it probably won't because each girl's body sets up her own time and rhythms and the time between periods may vary anywhere from twenty three to thirty two days and the floor last from two to seven days also depending on the girl's own rhythm this can sense how often should you change napkins when you mr ayling well that depends on the amount of flow but probably five or six times a day and that brings up another point many of your girls haven't started to menstruate yet but when you do you will want to use a sanitary napkin to absorb the slopes it's a soft absorbent pad ends are attached to a narrow elastic belt which you can wear around your hips or waist it's now some girls prefer to use tampons but tampon is a cylinder of observant cotton inside the cardboard applicator that is inserted into cotton absorbs the flow and when it is full you remove it and discard its yes molly this jensen is it to the people can tell a human today no it isn't but you should be more careful than ever about personal cleanliness and thinking to change your underwear more often be sure and use a deodorant and pay more attention to your hair and your nails and plan to wear your prettiest dress in other words be your most attractive self and remember  part of growing up as you grow your body changes from that of a young girl to that of a woman it's becoming round with the beginnings of a bosom and the start of a real waistline and hips and here is beginning to grow in different places too big hair and under and you can wash your hair if you're sure to dry it quickly and you can swim if you wait until after two or three days at the beginning of your period and you can go to dances and picnics but it's not a very good idea to skate or ride horseback or play fast games like volleyball and basketball or do strenuous dancing like square dancing or anything that has your around a lot in general mild exercise are best ones that strengthen the abdominal muscles are particularly good it's sensible to avoid strenuous exercise when you're menstruating and you'll be sure and tell your mother army if everything doesn't seem to be just right now i'd like each of you to take one of these booklets about menstruation and when you finish reading it if you have any questions be sure and come and see me and remember menstruation is as normal and natural as eating or breathing or sleeping soon molly will be a young woman like a genie having dates going to dances and lovely romantic dresses and making new and important friends there are so many wonderful things to look forward growing up it's an exciting time