OT-I'm so not ready for this. (Ladies only please)

I have been there...I started talking with my daughter early about sex and her body...she was prepared, but I reinforced everything and made is a very minor thing in the scheme of things.  She is grown and married now with a family of her own...and we still talk about anything...I wouldn' t have it any other way....

Teens are embarrassed....keep the tone informational and light...

 Thanks everyone for your comments & suggestions.

You think you have it rough, I am a single dad with an 11 year old.  I just know it is going to come at any moment now.  It is pretty akward to talk about girl things with her but seeing so her mom is no longer with us (don't be sorry.. a long story there) it is up to me.  Thankfully I have some great female friends who help me out but ultimately, it falls on me.

My grandma raised me and still called it "the curse." She was especially freaked out that I was 9 when mine started and was very suspicious of me over it. She vacillated between hostile and disappointed, as if I had done something wrong. Meanwhile, I was just oddly accepting about the whole thing happening to me. Instinctually, it felt OK. But I could've strangled that woman for how bad she made me feel for doing nothing besides growing up. So my suggestion is help her feel as normal as you can. Some girls might enjoy a women-only ceremony to welcome them into womanhood (been to a few of those!), others would rather play it very low key and get on with it. If it were me, I'd have a mom and daughter dinner together and get her a girly gift fitting for the occasion.

I was 9 and it was awful being the only girl in class who had it.
Best wishes!

 Sounds like you did a good job talking to her, there are some good books for their age that are wonderful, I remember reading "Are you there God its me Margret" and my daughter read it too, its all about a girl getting her period. Good book and easy for them to relate to.

Late to this thread but my Mom had a ceremony, sort of, it's hard to describe. But it was all about how important this is and the blessing of being connected with the universe in a way that men can never be.  The whole connection to the moon and the tides and all that.

Made the whole thing into a perfectly natural thing that women should be proud of because there would be no life without.  She hated that whole "curse" mentality.  Said men made that up.