Mother tells her teen sons to pack sanitary pads in their backpacks: "In case their friends need them"
Puberty can be a real hell - both for those who go through it and for those who have to be around a surly teenager. Parents should be as supportive as possible during this difficult time, where hormones are starting run wild. All girls will remember the unpleasant moment when they first got their first period and surely felt unprepared and overwhelmed by this event. In fact, the menstrual cycle is still considered by some people to be a taboo subject. The mother who is the subject of this story, however, decided to do something to help debunk this old-fashioned belief.
Tara Ahrens has two sons, Micheal and Elia, who were 15 and 16, respectively, at the time of this story, and a daughter, 10. At the time, Tara knew her daughter was developing and wanted to raise awareness of this - and all that it means - in her teenage sons. To do so, she took her sons out shopping at the mall. Tara explained the event in a post: "My teenage sons helped me with my shopping today, including buying their little sister's first bras...". She then added that she put sanitary pads in both their school backpacks so that they could give them to any of their friends or classmates in case they needed them.
"Both boys carry pads and tampons in their backpacks in case one of their friends has an emergency. I'm just a mom trying to erase the gender taboo!!" Tara clarified.
Many users found themselves supporting Tara and her actions: normalizing the topic of menstrual cycles can make it easier to address related issues, such as sales tax levied on sanitary pads and the fact that many women cannot even afford to buy them. Although it is an essential commodity, the cost of sanitary pads is not insignificant.
What is surprising, however, is that many criticised what Tara has done. Many stated that the decision to have her sons carry sanitary pads in their backpacks as "ridiculous" or even "disturbing".
What do you think about this?
