You know you need em' - so why not have them for free! A years supply of FREE TAMPONS from our fave Tampon Company Dejour! The following are the first round winners in the Dejour Tampons/Girl.com.au Period Horror Story Competition. The writers of the following submissions have each won themselves a years supply of Dejour Tampons.
**WINNER** Last year I was sitting on the toilet. I had my period and as I was wiping, my 4 year old daughter came barreling into the bathroom. She looked at me and then looked down and ran out of the bathroom. I just figured she freaked at what she saw and just ran out.
Well, the phone rang a few moments later, so I got up and ran to the phone and much to my surprise it was the police. They said that they had received a 000 call from here and couldn't understand what the caller was saying. They asked if I had a little kid there and if everything was ok. I said, "Yes, I have a kid but there wasn't any problem."
The officer scolded me and said I should teach my daughter to only use 000 for emergency purposes. At that point it dawned on me why she had called but I couldn't tell the officer. I was too embarrassed to tell him that she thought my period was a sign of me bleeding to death. The kid thought I was sitting on the toilet, dying! Thank God I didn't have to explain to him what had happened!
**WINNER** This is a true story. Luckily, it's my only period horror story, but it certainly started off my pubescent years with a bang!
I was 11, and living in Perth. My grandmother, who lives in Canberra, had been very sick for some time. I was at this stage her only granddaughter, and eldest grandchild. My grandmother went into a coma, and my mum, her daughter, flew over to see her. Unfortunately, my grandmother died without regaining consciousness. I decided I wanted to go the funeral, and so while my father stayed in Perth to look after my 5 year old brother, I flew to Canberra.
It was my second time on a plane by myself and my first time as a 'real passenger' - not an unaccompanied minor who gets looked after by the flight attendants. I was sitting in the middle of three seats, with a businessman on either side of me. I can remember getting a bit of a stomach ache about 2 hours into the flight, but put it down to a combination of nerves, grief, and a king size packet of fruit jubes. Half an hour later, I visited the cramped cupboard that airlines pretend is a toilet. And yes, you guessed it - blood! My first ever period came totally unannounced, at cruising altitude halfway between Perth and Canberra. I was completely unprepared - while I knew the facts, I was 11 - I figured I had at least a year up my sleeve.
So what was a girl to do? I sat in the toilet for about 10 minutes, panicking, disbelieving, checking to make sure and then panicking again. Finally I thought to fold some toilet paper (and we're talking airline toilet paper - so, something a little rougher than economy grade sandpaper) into my underwear, and I gingerly retook my seat. There I sat for the next 2 and a half hours, hardly daring to move; petrified either businessman would ask me what the matter was.
When I finally got to Canberra, my mother, grandfather and uncle were waiting for me at the airport. It's hard to work out how to tell your mum you've just got your first period two days after her mother has died. I finally worked up the nerve to tell her back at my grandfather's house. To my utter mortification she promptly told my grandfather, my uncle, my great-uncle, and all my grandfather's male friends who were at the house supporting him. I could not believe my mother had announced my period story to a houseful of (mostly unfamiliar) men! Mum and I took the car and went tampon and pad shopping. I think we bought about every brand possible, just to be sure!
My Mum said it was fitting - my life matured as my grandmother's ended, and I agree now. But at the time, I was more concerned with all the newfound period hassles!
**WINNER** My mother wasn't a great one for explaining the facts of life...she seemed to be happy to ignore what was happening to my body! The only thing that she did do one day was thrust a little bag full of pads at me, to keep in my school port for when the time came. What to do with the damn things when it came time to use them? She left it up to me to guess! So, when I was about 12 and in grade 8, my first period arrived while I was at school. I think I took it very well...I had educated myself at the library, and felt all "womanly". I even told 3 of my best friends, thinking how impressed they would be, as they were yet to start menstruating. I used the pads, and thought.this is easy. Until, that is, the girl's toilet at school blocked up, and overflowed, causing an awful mess. Apparently a plumber had to be called...and the reason for the blockage??? My pads of course! I didn't realise you couldn't flush the damn things away! Damn my mother! The principle held an assembly just for the girls, and announced what had happened...which would have been fine if no one knew it was me...but my "friends" told their "friends"...and they all turned and looked straight at me. God how I wish I could be swallowed up by the earth. It took me a long time to get over that day...I am 30 years old now, and am blushing while I write this. I have a 4 month old daughter of my own now, and there is one thing I know for certain...she will hear about the facts of life from ME!!
**WINNER** I have always had a big problem come tampon time and on this particular day I was booked in to take a luxury Jaguar car for a test drive. Being used to disaster "leaks" I carried the pack drill for survival! Confidence soaring I waltzed calmly into the prestige show room and proceeded to organise my test drive.
I eased myself into this remarkable piece of machinery with its very expensive fawn leather seats, turned the key and zoomed out the show room with the salesperson (MAN) next to me. I would have been gone five minutes when I felt that awful clotting feeling surge through the layers of pads, tampon and trousers forming a pathetic impression of someone slowly bleeding to death! In my panic I swerved the car into the nearest garage, apologised to the salesman (now totally panicked) next to me and offered no clue as to what was wrong apart from "Gotta go, it's an emergency, I'll be back IN 5 minutes".
When I got back to car I was SO embarrassed, the poor salesman had no idea about women I'm sure. As I fled to the ladies loo I left a pool in the seat of the car along with a few strategically placed "streaks" along the pathway to the loo. Well he panicked; figured maybe I was miscarrying (as he put it) rang an ambulance AND the police. The ambulance workers (MORE MEN) and the Police officers (MEN AGAIN) were as embarrassed as I was - one of the ambulance officers actually offered me an incontinence pad to "help clean up".
Finally after emergency services left us alone I had no idea what to say to the salesguy apart from sorry. He was so good about the whole thing and helped me clean up the leather before we took the car back. In the end I felt so guilty and embarrassed I took off without even collecting my things left at the dealers. I have never heard from them and I have never been game to reclaim my coat and spare keys - somehow I think they'd prefer me to stay away after all the trouble "being a woman" caused them.
**WINNER** I was in the toilets at the local Cinema. I had to change the wretched tampon (as you do) but dropped it and it rolled into the next cubicle! It was the used one too, and to add to that, in my panic, I also dropped the good one and it rolled the other way! It was all I had! I was mortified!
No one said anything, and I decided to wait until the toilets were empty! I quickly went to each cubicle and searched for both of them, but couldn't find them anywhere!
I had to call my friend, who was still watching the movie, on her mobile to console me and to bring me another tampon! HOW EMBARRASSING!
**WINNER** When I was a teenager my mother really embarrassed me I couldn't believe she did what she did especially in a large shop like Coles supermarket when it was packed with people. It began like this. I had needed some tampons but was too embarrassed to get them myself so I went shopping with mum and my younger brother tagged along. Mum put the tampons in the shopping trolley while my brother was looking around the store. When we got to the checkout my brother yells out at the top of his voice "MUM what are these for???" So mum quietly said,"Oh they are for your sisters toothache (because he was too young to know about the birds and the bees).
Next thing he yells out, "Well how come I didn't get a packet when I had a sore mouth?" Everybody turned and looked at us and burst out laughing. I was so embarrassed and my face was as red as a tomato. And if that wasn't bad enough when we got home my brother decided to sneak the tampons out of my room and experiment with them while I was out. I came home with my boyfriend to be confronted with tampons sitting in a glass of water and the cat running around playing with one. Periods can definitely be a horror story if you have a little brother.
**WINNER** Do Dejour Tampons come in snap lock cases? True. Are they the most convenient and comfortable tampons on the market? True. Is the snap lock case childproof? False - and I learnt this the hard way.
It all started one Saturday night when I was home babysitting my little baby brother. Mum and dad had gone out for the evening and I was left in charge. This was the first time that they had trusted me to look after everything without the need for a babysitter myself and I was going to prove to them that I was up to it.
At first, it seemed to be a piece of cake. I watched TV, while my brother played with his toys on the lounge room floor. My school bag was near him as I had planned to do some homework that night. I can't even remember what I was watching, but it must have been good because I didn't notice when Ben, my brother, started scrounging around in my bag.
The next thing I heard was Ben crying. I thought he must be ready for bed so I got up and made my way across to him. When he turned around I couldn't believe my eyes. He had found my Dejour Tampons and managed to wedge one right up his nose!!!!
Panic, hysteria, and a frantic phone call to my parents followed. In the end we had to take Ben to hospital so a doctor could remove the foreign object from his nose. I was branded the babysitter from hell and they still joke about it at family reunions.
Warning!!! Dejour Tampons and little brothers don't mix!
DON'T FORGET you can still send in your entries for this competition and like the lucky winners above, you too can WIN yourself a year's supply of Dejour Tampons! Visit COMPETITION CENTRAL for all the details on how to enter!