Problem: Article: Though it may sound counter-intuitive, staying hydrated will keep your body from retaining water, which will make you feel less bloated. You should carry around a water bottle or make sure to hit up the water fountains between classes as much as you can. Aim to get at least 10 8-ounce glasses of water throughout the day. It can be tricky to drink a lot during school, but you can make sure to drink extra glasses before and after school. You can also try to incorporate foods with lots of water in them into your diet to make sure you stay hydrated. These foods include watermelon, strawberries, celery, and lettuce. Minimize your caffeine intake, taking it easy on caffeinated soda, tea, or coffee. This can make you dehydrated and can actually make cramping worse. If you want to deal with your period in the best way possible, then you should avoid eating foods that cause bloating. The biggest culprits are fatty foods and carbonated foods. This means you should skip out on those French fries, ice cream, or hamburger and soda at lunch and focus on healthier wraps, salads, or turkey sandwiches. Replace your soda with a water or an unsweetened iced tea and you may feel better. Fatty foods make you retain water, which makes you feel bloated. You should also avoid whole grains, beans, lentils, cabbage, or cauliflower. Though you may feel like the last thing you want to do is go to gym class, it's been proven that exercise actually makes you feel better when you're on your period. It's been shown that aerobic exercise makes your body pump more blood, which lets it release endorphins to counteract the prostaglandins in your body, reducing your cramps and pain. Don't be tempted to sit in the bleachers with a frown on your face, and get out there instead. Of course, if you're really feeling terrible, you may need to take a break from exercise on a given day, but you'll be surprised by how much better you feel. If you skip gym because of your period, you'll be singling yourself out and calling attention to yourself, instead of doing what everyone else is doing and taking your mind off of your pain. Before you start your school day, you can make a plan to hit up the bathrooms every 2-3 hours so you can change your pads or tampons if your flow is heavy, or just make sure that everything is in working order. You may be nervous about leakage, and just having confirmation that everything is fine can make you feel better. Though you won't need to change your tampon every 2 hours, you can aim to change it every 3-4 hours if you have a heavy flow; if your period is lighter, you may be able to go up to 5 or 6 hours but this is not recommended because it can lead to Toxic Shock Syndrome. Also, to avoid this make sure to only wear the lowest absorbency you need. Taking bathroom breaks every 2-3 hours will also help you relieve your bladder more often. Relieving your bladder when you have the urge to use the restroom can help relieve the cramps associated with your period. When you're in school, you should make sure to dispose of your pads and tampons in a sanitary way. Avoid flushing tampons in the toilet, even if you do that at home, because you don't know how strong the pipes are in your school and you don't want to cause a flood. Try to use the bathroom stalls with little bins in them; if you have those, you should still try to wrap up your tampons and pads with their original wrappers or toilet paper so they don't stick to the side of the bin. If you're not lucky enough to have a trash can in your stall, just wrap them up with toilet paper and throw them in the trash outside; don't be shy about it, and remember that all girls have to dispose of their sanitary napkins. Always make sure to wash your hands after you've changed your pad or tampon. Though it's unlikely that you'll have a leak, you may want to wear darker clothes during the week of or before your period, just to keep yourself feeling secure. You can wear darker jeans or a darker dress just so you don't have to worry about checking your backside or asking your friends to check for you every two seconds. Plan a few days of wearing cute, darker colors if that makes you more comfortable. That said, don't let your period keep you from wearing your cute new outfits. If you want to wear something light or pastel-colored, do what you want, knowing that there's really nothing to worry about. Remember to treat them how you would like to be treated, even if they were rude, and to not be mean or insensitive back. If they persist, contact a trusted adult. Try the following responses in the meantime: "I'm really not in the mood. Could you please stop that?" "I really need my space right now. Can you please stop that?" If in class, a good option is to be excused to the school nurse or calmly explain your situation to the teacher and leave to your locker and the bathroom. Some good explanations without going too in-detail are below. "I'm having a feminine moment, can I please use the washroom?" "Aunt Flo has given me a visit. I would like to be excused from class for a few minutes." "I'm having a feminine emergency... you know."
Summary: Stay hydrated. Eat foods that prevent bloating. Try not to skip out on gym class it can relieve menstrual pain. Plan to take bathroom breaks every 2-3 hours. Dispose of your pads or tampons correctly. Wear darker clothes if that makes you more comfortable. Know how to respond when someone makes an insensitive remark. Ask to be excused when needed.

Problem: Article: Conditioning may be the most important thing you can do for curly hair. Curly hair is already more prone to dryness and damage/breakage than other types. So keeping it moisturized with conditioner is essential for healthy curly hair. You can condition your hair while in the shower, or try some leave-in conditioner. These products will likely contain the same ingredients as products designated for curly hair. They'll target the dryness and breakages, and that's what matters. These ingredients will dry your hair out even more and lead to more damage. Many hair products are alcohol and silicone free; you just have to look at the labels to figure out which ones are. Many experts swear by the dry/no shampoo method. This is when you wash your hair with just water, or you only use conditioner in the shower (but no shampoo). This is meant to help your hair combat dryness and breakage.
Summary: Condition your curly hair. Use shampoo/conditioner for heat damaged hair. Avoid products with alcohol or silicone. Try the dry/no shampoo method.

Problem: Article: Based on everything you determined in the previous steps, it's now time to have some fun and choose how your character should look. How will you describe your character? Consider everything from the color of the character, to their clothes and accessories. Accessories should be an important consideration. Is your character well-read? Maybe he has reading glasses or a monocle. Gender and height are just another dynamic in creating a look. Consider taking a normally small creature and making them big. Thinking back to the role of the character, consider how that would affect their personality. Is your character's personality larger than life because they are the hero? Are they the shy, but inwardly brave sidekick? Write down words that describe your character's personality. This will come in handy when introducing them to your audience, but could also be incorporated into their name. What makes your animal character special? Do they have certain qualities, which help to shape who they are? For example, your character may be able to read minds or fly. Perhaps they are a math whiz or a scientific genius. Be creative, but consider how their unique qualities tie in with everything else you've already determined. Don't fall into stereotypes, as that only produces boring characters. It's up to you to break the mold and to give your character qualities that will set him/her apart.
Summary:
Choose a look. Consider the character's personality. Determine unique qualities.