'Bleed-throughs happen!' Indiana mom is praised after encouraging her teenage sons to carry tampons around school in case their female friends have an emergency
A pair of teenage boys from Fort Wayne, Indiana are being praised for always carrying a tampon in case one of their female friends needs one.
Blogger Tara Ahrens said that when she first talked to her sons about how 'traumatizing' a bleed-through can be for a menstruating woman or a girl, her sons mostly remained quiet — but it wasn't long before they took it upon themselves to carry supplies to help their female classmates.
Now Micah, 16, and Elijah, 17, always keep tampons in their lockers in case of emergency, and their thoughtfulness is being applauded on social media.
Good guys: A pair of teenage boys from Fort Wayne, Indiana are being praised for always carrying a tampon in case one of their female friends needs one
Feminist lessons: Blogger Tara Ahrens convinced her sons to do so after explaining how 'traumatizing' a bleed-through can be for a menstruating woman or a girl
Writing for CafeMom, Tara, a mother-of-four, explained that it first occurred to her to talk to her sons about periods — and how period mishaps can be incredibly embarrassing — after reading about a man who stepped up to help women.
The man had been hiking on the Appalachian Trail when he gave a tampon to a fellow hiker, explaining that he grew up with moms and sisters.
Soon after, in the car with her sons, she suggested that they, too, should carry a tampon in their backpacks to help friends in an emergency.
She wrote: '"Bleed-throughs happen," I’ve explained to my boys. "They are mortifying and can be traumatizing. Kindness and understanding from ANY friend goes a long way. Be that person."'
Initially, Tara didn't think her sons had really taken in her message, recalling: 'They seemed to think it over and didn’t say much, because [they are] teenagers.'
But later that year, after one of Elijah's friends had a bleed-through at school, both boys decided to take her advice.
Generous: They now each keep a tampon in their lockers and have let their friends know they can be counted on
'The road to change includes erasing period taboos — maybe a couple of teenage boys at a time,' Tara said
Micah just told his female friends, while Elijah told everyone.
Unfortunately, Elijah was mocked a bit by some male classmates — but others thought it was cool.
Tara finds other ways to destigmatize female anatomy around her sons, including taking them bra shopping for their younger sisters.
In fact, Tara went viral for a post in the private Facebook group Pantsuit Nation in 2019, where she shared a photo of Elijah in Micah in the women's underwear section at Target.
'My teenage boys helped me shop today, which included buying their little sister’s first bras… because breasts happen,' she wrote.
'Both boys carry a tampon and a pad in their backpacks in case one of their friends needs one. Just a mom out here, trying to erase gender taboo!!'
No big deal! Tara finds other ways to destigmatize female anatomy around her sons, including taking them bra shopping for their younger sisters
Commenters praised the boys and also shared some of their own embarrassing period stories, saying they'd have love to know boys like Elijah and Micah in school.
'In high school if I needed a pad and a guy handed me one and said it's no big deal, my heart would have exploded,' wrote one.
Others praised Tara for raising her boys to be thoughtful about women in their lives.
Writing for CafeMom, Tara said: 'As you normalize these things in your own family by regularly discussing them, they become normal to your kids, too.
'It is an even bigger hope of mine that these small actions change the way kids in our high school handle and view the whole subject.
'The road to change includes erasing period taboos — maybe a couple of teenage boys at a time,' she concluded.
In 2018, another mother went viral for a post in the Facebook page Gurgaon Moms in which she praised her daughter's classmate for helping her get through her own bleed-through
In 2018, another mother went viral for a post in the Facebook page Gurgaon Moms in which she praised her daughter's classmate for helping her get through her own bleed-through.
'My daughter started her period on the bus ride home today,' she wrote. 'A boy a year older than her… that she doesn’t really know… pulled her aside and whispered in her ear that she had a stain on the back of her pants and gave her his sweater to tie around her waist so she could walk home off of the bus.
'She said she was kind of embarrassed and originally said it's okay... but the boy insisted and told her, "I have sisters, it's all good!"
'If you are this boy's Mom... I want to say thnk you and that you are raising him right!'
Commenters on Reddit praised the boy as 'the hero we deserve,' 'the real MVP,' and an 'awesome kid.'
