Witzend, that is hilarious, and made me laugh out loud!
I remember my mum having a subscription to a magazine called, 'The Book of Life', and she sat down with me when I was about 10 and explained things in simple terms.
My periods started when we were staying at my gran's, when I was 11. Mum asked gran if she had any sanitary towels in the house, as I had a very young aunt living at home, who was only 4 years older than me at the time. She gave me one her belts, and a massive Dr. White's ST, which I was horrified about. Mum promptly went off to the chemist and bought me a supply of slimline stick-on pads. My young aunt was most put out and wanted to know why my gran had subjected her to the embarrassment of wearing those horrible belts for so long!
Mum even bought me tampons when I was a young teen, but I struggled to use them ... until I was older, and had a boyfriend!