When to tell: Candid conversation on 'PADs' with my daughter

Ariana is my 7yr old daughter, very inquisitive and always asking questions.

Many times as many mothers may do, intentionally or otherwise, my daughter is always somehow around when I dress or undress from work or to work. I think she may have seen me a couple of times with a pad on my panty and may have wondered what it was and what it was doing there. So, one day as I was about to take a bath, this is when she was about 6yrs, Ariana followed me to the bathroom and I believe gathered all her confidence and finally asked. 'Mum, why do you put on pampers? (pampers are a form of diapers)', I chuckled for I thought it was funny, but then I sobered up and looked at her. Now, in my head a thousand things were racing, many questions. What do I tell her, the truth, half truth or fabricated truth. All this time Ariana's gaze was fixed on my face without blinking.

I sat at the edge of he bathtub, pulled her close to me and decided to tell her the truth in a gentle way. First I told her that what I was wearing was not really pampers, but a form of pampers called pads for adults. I told her when girls become big, a few things change in their body, e.g. their breast become big, then they have big hips and also some bloods comes out of their private parts. Now this blood is not bad, it shows you are a big girl and soon you will be a woman. Because of that blood, one day you can have children. So she asks, 'mum, where does the blood come from', I told her it comes from inside the body, and so that it does not dirty our clothes, mummy has to put on a pad to hold the blood from spilling out.

She looks at me, says 'ok' and runs off to go and play, just like that!

I was left still wondering, whether I did the right thing, did I say to much or not. Though one thing is for sure, out of the talk, I gained my daughter's trust since several intimate questions have been asked and answered candidly since then