(for a little background, her mom is out of the picture, my father has custody of her. Obviously he doesn't want to have this conversation 🤣) so my oldest niece is 12, and we have had very few brief talks about boys. She has had her period for about six months now so I felt the need to see where she is feeling when it comes to boys. Now the dating rule is not until she's 15. Obviously rules get broken (I never listened 🤣) so I asked if she was wanting to date yet and how she felt about the rule. She said she didn't like the rule but understood it. I asked did she feel like kissing boys yet and oh ladies, her face turned so red! I just laughed a little and said it was fine to want to do that and she said shes been thinking about it. So I explained that you know, not that I condone breaking rules but I did myself and most of the time I regretted it. But if she did break the rule, I'd like to know as a "safe" person who isn't going to get mad and yell (not that my father would.) so then I asked if she ever thought about anything else with boys, just being vague. She got where ei was going and very embarrassedly said no really quick. Now, my mom never told me anything. She told me one day I'd get my period and when it came she gave me a pad and said to use it and its go away. So the next day I was still bleeding I thought I was dying. Because of her not explaining periods, masterbation, sex or anything about a female body to me, I want to make sure my nieces are as informed as possible. When is a good time to have these talks, how do I bring it up and what do I say? I know I want to tell her to not be ashamed. My mom made me feel so ashamed when I told her I had sex for the first time and I'd rather be a safe space to explain consequences and safe sex to them. Any suggestions would be great!