not a pleasant subject.

This isn't going to be  a pleasant post and if you are easily embarrassed or offended it just might be best to skip on by this one and come back 'nother day.

We are going to talk about periods, well, I am and I hope you are going to give some feedback.

A couple of years ago Lily was at a meet and I had taken her into the ladies room to change. Whilst in there some older girls were using the toilets when one said, urghh, I can't get my pad to stick cos my suit is wet. Her friend mumbled something but it fell on deaf ears cos I was 100 million % grossed out. Pads, bathing suits, swimming pools? Oh please say it isn't so. Doesn't the world know that if you are going to swim whilst menstruating you HAVE to use tampons?

It sadly wasn't a one off. As the meets have come and gone so have more and more of these types of comments and situations. I am absolutely disgusted. How can a parent of a girl allow her to think for one second it is OK to swim in the pool sans any kind of hygiene, protection? HOW?

It happened closer to home this last week when one of the girls on our team mentioned to Lily that she had to go remove her pad before jumping in the pool. Why my girl didn't take the opportunity to say something I have no idea, well probably cos it isn't her place. She did, tell me though. I pondered what to do and felt the obvious route was the Board of Health. Turns out they don't have anything to do with swimming pools, so I needed to speak to environmental health, so I did.

I was told by a man with a very serious voice, in response to my inquiry, that it is nothing to worry about. I said, nothing to worry about, it's just gross and disgusting. My kid probably swallows some of that water every night by mistake. And lets not mention the whole blood born pathogens, shall we. But mister serious voice had an answer for me there too. Ma'am, chlorine kills everything. I responded that that was untrue and if that was the case medical facilities would use to eradicate aids, etc etc. And in order for the chlorine to wipe out anything it would have to be the exact concentration down to the millimeter. Mr Serious Voice, was done with me cos I know too much. He really wan't happy when I said to him, if chlorine can kill everything howcome you can become infected with Meningitis from public pools? We we DONE! Nothing to worry about.

I am shocked that there are no guidelines for this. You are told not to swim with an open sore, or if you have a rash but bleeding vaginally, oh that's just dandy and fine.  So I went to USA Swimming next and success. The lady I talked to actually got it. She was rather grossed out and disgusted to. They have taken all my information and once they know what to do and how to deal with it they will get back to me. I suggested that maybe Tampax Tampons could advertise in the swim magazines that get sent out to every registered swimmer.

This morning I contacted Tampax. what a waste of time. What a bunch of mamby pamby twirps who read a corporate script over the phone but if dealt a call that doesn't fit in they give you a standard line telling you they will be in touch. That would have been more believable had she taken down my name but she hadn't. But if I had more questions I could probably find answers on their website. WHAT?

I was so disappointed. I have been the worlds biggest Tampax fan my entire life. If I could shake the hand of the man or woman that invented them I would cos they are life changing. One month after I got my period I switched to Tampons cos I was swimming at school and i have never looked back. Oh did you catch that? I was swimming at school. I had no choice if I wanted to swim tampons were the way to go. My mum told me that stuff nearly 40 years ago. We spoke of this stuff nearly 40 years ago so how come people won't now?

I'm not a fool I've read the reports I know what is in a pool, the percentage of body fluids to water. It isn't pleasant, in fact it's horrid but lets not perpetuate the issue.

So tomorrow I will bow my head and contact Playtex and whomever else makes tampons.

If you are the mother of a girl take a look at the information, read the new reports on Tampons, they aren't bad, dangerous and they won't steal her virginity. They won't make her a hooch but they will allow her to swim, and do a bazillion other things with freedom everysinglemonth. Oh and I googled it and found all kinds of nonsense about how the pressure of the water equalised the pressure in the vagina so no blood will leak out but it isn't suggested you stay in for more than 3 hours and certainly don't be to active. Umm, swimmers do flip turns. I think I'm about to barf.

I don't want my kids to swallow another girls blood. There ya go, I said it.

And I spoke to the Head Coach, you know, Bossman about it and he hopes I can bring some awareness to it. yeah, me too.

So what is you take on this? Honestly.

Maybe we didn't used to have tampons but now we do.We also didn't have the knowledge that we do now. And puhlease don't give me a line about how clean that blood is cos it is only clean as long as it isn't carrying pathogens.

Ok, discuss.