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My Cousin ‘ralph’!

Oct 16th, 2007 by

I am working on a class about women’s health and menstruation, and it got me thinking about how I was introduced the ‘my period’.  Around my house when I was a kid, we would always say “cousin Ralph has come for a visit” when we were having our periods.  Now I call it my Moon time.  I like that better and think it has a positive ring to it.  From my students, I have heard all kinds of things from “on the rag”, to “aunt Flo”, to “the red flood”, to “goddess time”.  So, I’m taking a survey… What do you say when you are bleeding?  Be totally honest now… I want to hear all the positives and negatives.

Posted in Ponderings

11 Responses to “My Cousin ‘ralph’!”

  1. Robin says:
    10/16/2007 at 10:18 pm

    I call mine (with enthusiastic sarcasm) ‘riding the crimson wave’…

    or, I just growl all week. one. week. long. growl.

    :D

  2. kristine says:
    10/17/2007 at 5:06 pm

    gee, it’s been so long, i can’t remember what i called it….hmmm…i think maybe i just say ‘it’s that time of the month’ or ‘i’ve got my period’. i only had one cycle between jaden and sage so it’s been over 4 years since i’ve had to voice it.

    at the rate that they are both still nursing, it’ll be another 4 before i have to refer to it again. ;)

  3. kristine says:
    10/17/2007 at 5:08 pm

    oh, and greg refers to it as ‘riding the cotton pony’ which is funny because i usually use the keeper so he needs to update his saying to ‘riding the rubber pony.’

    alrighty then…enough babbling on your blog!

  4. The unsually unsual farmchick says:
    10/18/2007 at 9:02 am

    I have always referred to it as my “monthly” but now that my daughter (who is 8 1/2) is becoming more aware, I refer to it as my moon cycle. I was raised around woman who spoke of it with disgust, or “dirtiness” and plain dislike. I try to be as positive as possible about my Moon Cycle so my daughter will grow with a positive attitude towards it. not see it as a bothersome and gross time, like the mass of woman portray.Hopefully growing with a positive attitude about it will influence her friends when they start talking about it. I am in the hopes to have an all girls event when she does begin hers. Kinda like a right of passage bonfire and spa day with other young woman and their mothers.

  5. Lis says:
    10/18/2007 at 10:22 am

    My “dot.”

  6. tmc says:
    10/18/2007 at 11:33 pm

    “blood moon”

    it seems to sum it up and give it some sense of reverence.

  7. Mary says:
    10/20/2007 at 11:00 pm

    I always say “my period”. Gwen & Lydia both know about it though and Gwen looks forward to it. HAHAHAH! I find absolutely nothing enjoyable about getting my period, nor do I draw any special womanly powers from it, like some others I know. If I could stay pregnant or nursing for the rest of my life, I’d be happy. :)

    A friend in Germany always said, “My dot came down.” It took me MONTHS AND MONTHS before I realized what she was talking about.

  8. Amie says:
    10/21/2007 at 12:07 pm

    Since mine always seems to come the same week as the full moon. I have started saying “it’s the week of the full moon”.

  9. Yiayia Shannon says:
    10/23/2007 at 8:43 pm

    The curse

  10. Mom says:
    10/26/2007 at 8:20 pm

    “My friend is here”. For some it had the sound of relief that they were safe once more.

  11. Melanie J. says:
    1/10/2008 at 11:15 am

    My sister and her friends had a rather ingenious way of referring to it: visiting Japan, a reference to the Japanese flag.

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