Couple's genius 'period boards' trend takes over the internet: 'It started out as a bit of a joke'

Editor's note: This article was originally published on November 14, 2022. It has since been updated.

Online food board trends are becoming very popular. The traditional cheese and charcuterie boards, as well as the butter and pasta boards, have been doing the rounds on social media. However, this one could be the best board ever: the period board. The idea was the brainchild of couple Tifany Allen-Ciota, 52 and Michael Ciota, 62, who have daughters Brooke, 30 and Courtney, 18. In a TikTok video, the parents present a life-hack board to other parents with menstruators in the house. “I kept seeing all these new types of boards on TikTok like a butter board and pasta board,” Allen-Ciota said to Scary Mommy. “I just thought we need a period board. I wanted my daughters to come home to a safe environment. It started out as a bit of a joke and I thought they might be a bit embarrassed but they loved it."

There is a ton of goods on the board to help a person who is menstruating feel much better, including pads and tampons, Aleve and a heating pad, a box of Kleenex, as well as an endless supply of junk food and chocolate. Beautifully arranged, of course! “Your teenage daughter comes home and she’s emotional because it’s that time of the month, you want to meet her at the door with the Aleve and maybe some tissues,” Allen-Ciota says in the video. “She might just be raging but you never know.” She then gives a run-down of what else goes on the board, arranging the chocolate and snacks, adding, “Whatever’s unreasonable is totally reasonable.”

She says the heating pad is the most important of them all for your teenager but added another important one only for the parents—a glass of red for them to get through the week, saying, “Then maybe some of this for mom and dad.”

“My husband is very talented in the kitchen,” she said in the interview. “He always put together something fabulous and he’s great at putting together charcuterie boards and now he helps me with the period boards. We include whatever they want on there to help get them through. We want them to know they are loved and supported.”

The boards don't just help their teenage girls, Tifany says, but also their father in understanding a lot of things about the experience of menstruating. “Michael doesn’t know anything about what they are going through so it helps him understand and be involved," she said. "I’ve been taking him to shops to explain the different sanitary products and which of our girls prefers what. I’ve had a lot of other dads reach out as well on social media wanting to learn more.”

People in the comments seemed to love the parents' innovative period board. Many added that as parents and as menstruators, this seemed like a lovely addition to the parenting hacks kit! “As a mom who loves to be extra and who has two daughters who will one day be teens, totally doing this,” user @mommac_ said. User @traveling.cassandra commented, "I’m 39 but will you meet me at the door once a month? I want the wine too though." User @merryrebeccagarden said, "I thought you were including the wine at first! Not gonna lie, I absolutely wish I’d been allowed a glass of wine during my periods as a teenager."