It’s difficult being an adolescent girl these days. There are so many pressures to grow up quickly, follow the crowd, keep up to date with the latest trends and then there are the changes of puberty and menarche (first period), the mixed messages about body image, what is acceptable, what is not. It’s all so confusing.

As the mother or guardian of a young girl, I’m sure you’ll want to guide her on the right path, equipping her with the ability to talk about her feelings, hopes and fears at this time in her life, connect with positive role models and making sure the clinical approach to fertility and pregnancy she gets at school isn’t all she learns.

At school, very little attention is given to recognising the importance of menstruation and the menstrual cycle in the lives of girls and women with often the same teaching being given to both girls and boys. Menarche is the start of a girl’s fertile years and her menstrual cycle will be a fundamental part of her for nearly half of her life. Many girls find menarche embarrassing, it’s an anxious time and they are confused about what it means to be changing from a girl to a woman.

If young girls are well prepared for menarche and view it positively, they experience higher self-esteem, fewer negative cycle related symptoms, a favourable overall menstrual perception and subsequently have easier births.

Fascinating facts, fun activities and lively discussion about menarche, fertility and the changes they are experiencing during a Celebration Day for Girls has been shown to have a lasting impact on girls, especially when they receive the ongoing emotional support of their mothers, families and carers.

A Celebration Day for Girls is a one day workshop for 10 to 12 year old girls with their mother or female carer. It’s been developed to support girls and their mothers at this stage in both their lives to provide a celebration of the journey into womanhood and many find that it results in an enhanced mother-daughter relationship as the doors of communication are opened wide.

The first part of the day from about 10am until 1pm is spent with girls on their own and then just before lunch, the mothers, grandmothers and female carers join for the rest of the day until around 4pm.

As a mother or female carer, you’ll usually take on the role of provider of information, wisdom and guidance, so I’ll meet with you for a two hour session before the Celebration Day for Girls for adult conversation, storytelling and support for your changing mother-daughter relationship and you may even a new experience of your own cycle.

Jane Bennett, the creator of the Celebration Days for Girls has written an excellent mother-daughter guide to the transition from child to woman.

Find out more about A Blessing Not a Curse by Jane Bennett

I hold Celebration Days for Girls in Leeds and I’ll also be working with Dads at the Fathers Celebrating Daughters workshops. Contact me to register your interest and receive more information.