The Three P's of Puberty: Pimples, Pubes, and PMS

I've been treated to some of the initial signs of puberty over the last few years, but they seem to be picking up in frequency and quantity lately. I can't say that I'm too excited about this. The girls are going to turn eleven this summer; I was desperately hoping that they'd be "late bloomers" and maybe not start these things until around sixteen or so. No such luck.

The first two P's are pretty self explanatory, but PMS is a little more complicated. I always thought of the more concrete symptoms, like cramping, bloating, extra pimples, and grouchiness. Watching one of my daughters, who seems to be having a harder time with things, I started remembering all of the other symptoms: crying for little or no reason, getting really ticked off for little or no reason, lying around not wanting to move or do anything, and craving salty snack foods.

Since I share lots of personal info about my daughters, I'll share some about me too (I'm not much for secrets- my memory isn't that good and I just don't see the point in keeping secrets about some things...). I have been on depo provera for about ten years now, and, as a side effect, I haven't had a period in about nine years. I only have PMS every three months when it is about time for me to get my next injection. Even then the symptoms are much milder than they were when I was having a regular cycle.

So, I'm relearning and remembering the less palatable symptoms as I watch my daughters struggle with them. It's hard enough to explain to a ten year old what is going on in her body and the changes she'll have to adapt to for the next forty-plus years; when those ten-year-olds have autism (one is non-verbal) and have difficulty with abstract concepts it is even more challenging.