Being a teenage girl comes with enough challenges. You certainly don’t need your parents questioning your every move, especially when it comes to personal hygiene matters. After all, your body is changing in profound ways that could be deeply embarrassing if not handled with tact.
For one teen, she was forced to loudly bring up her ‘time of the month’ in public after her dad refused to let her go to the bathroom. Shocked, her father quickly changed his mind and escorted her to the loo and back without a word. She turned to Reddit to tell her story.
More info: Reddit
Teen bodies change on a dime, as this dad found out in a rather unsettling way
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The family was attending an awards ceremony on a ship, so the dad told his kids to go to the bathroom before the event started since they might get lost if they went alone later
Image credits: RITESH SINGH / Pexels (not the actual photo)
Before the ceremony, but while they were already seated, his teen daughter told him she needed the bathroom urgently, but he refused to let her go
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Eventually the teen blurted out that she was on her period, which saw the dad swiftly change his tune and escort her to the ship's bathroom and back without a word
OP begins her story by telling the community that, when she was a teen, her dad took the family to an awards ceremony for one of his fellow sailors that was hosted on a ship. Before the event, her dad told her and her siblings to use the bathroom, since they’d likely get lost if they were to use it during the ceremony.
She adds that she grew up with severe ADHD and would sometimes forget to use the bathroom before it was too late, but that that wasn’t an issue once she reached her teens.
Well, after everyone was seated, but before the ceremony officially started, OP suddenly realized it was that time of the month. She whispered to her dad that she needed to use the bathroom, which infuriated him. Not allowing her to even stand up, he told her she could wait until it was over.
Panicking, OP implored him to let her go, but this only made matters worse. At this point, OP stopped whispering and loudly begged her dad to trust her on this, which caused somewhat of a scene.
Unmoved, her father again denied her request, after which she was forced to blurt out, “I just started my period and need to go to the bathroom before I get blood everywhere!”
According to OP, the second the word “period” came out of her mouth, her dad shot up, led her out of the room, and escorted her to and from the bathroom without saying another word.
Dealing with an adolescent daughter can be a challenging time for both parents, but especially for dads who have to assume the sometimes entirely new roles of advisor and sounding board, rather than just protector and fixer.
If you’re a teen daughter, this is probably something you can relate to when it comes to your relationship with your dad.
So, just how can dads ensure they remain close to their daughters as they go from tween to young adult? We went looking for answers.
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In his article for Priority Physicians, Dr. Derrick Williams, a father of four daughters aged 12-18 writes that, as your daughter turns 12 or 13 (sometimes even younger), things are already shifting inside her body - she’s going through a complex mix of physical, physiological, hormonal, emotional, and cognitive changes.
Closely linked with hormonally driven changes is a psychological phenomenon that child development specialists have termed ‘separation and individuation’. Simply put, when kids enter their teens, they typically start pulling away from their parents. Simultaneously, they begin to identify and connect more strongly with their friends.
In her article for the Child Mind Institute, Rae Jacobson writes that, as young girls grow into young women, it can be tough for dads to figure out just where, and how, they fit in.
Says clinical psychologist Jerry Bubrick, “As parents, our roles change over time. When our daughters are young, our job is to protect them physically and emotionally, but as they get older we have to take on more of a consulting role.”
Jacobson puts forward 10 tips to help dads (and daughters) navigate the inevitable changes that come with adolescence.
A few of these include being a good listener, discussing (not dictating) rules, being generous with praise, letting your daughter take the lead when it comes to quality time, and modeling healthy relationships, especially with your wife.
It seems OP’s dad has some catching up to do in terms of getting to grips with his daughter’s stage of life. Hopefully this incident was a wake-up call for him.
What would you have done if you’d found yourself in OP’s shoes? Could she have handled the situation any better, or did her dad get what he deserved? Let us know your opinion in the comments!
Some readers in the comments shared their experiences of just how confusing a ship’s layout can be, while others congratulated the teen for standing up for herself
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