PMS – A Girl’s Excuse for Everything?

Let’s imagine:

A young girl gets her period when she’s just 10 years old. She’s still playing with Barbies and Polly Pockets, but her body has matured and she’s got her period. None of her friends do. When she gets her period she is cranky, grumpy, grouchy and whiny. She gets cramps and often throws up. She bursts into tears over the littlest thing and yells at her brother a lot.

There’s another girl who gets her period. She’s 16 years old. She’s been getting her period for 2 years. She’s deep into algebra and essay writing. Her free time is spent practicing her music, hanging out with friends or watching movies. When she gets her period she gets terrible cramps and often feels like throwing up. She’s grouchy and often feels like crying. She’s guaranteed to fight with her brother and her mom – usually over something ridiculous. When she has her period she’s more likely to feel like her friends don’t care about her.

Even grown women still get sick with their periods and struggle with PMS.

Then there’s a woman. She’s got 3 kids, ages 8 and under. She’s a busy mom, and works part time. She has no free time, unless she’s hired a babysitter so she can go out with her husband. She gets terrible cramps and feels like throwing up when she gets her period. She’s quick to cry, especially at work when her co-workers say nasty things. She gets particularly grumpy with her husband.

Ah… the joys of PMS.

Who do you expect to see “PMS” behavior from the most? Do you think moms have less PMS than teen girls? Why or why not?

If you consider that most moms, and older women with no children, can’t go around grumpy, grouchy, nasty and crying all day when they have their period, do you think there is something we can learn?

During your time of PMS you may have all these emotions within a matter of minutes.

When you are young it’s hard to control your emotions. As you get older it doesn’t get easier, it just gets more necessary. The more you practice controlling your emotions, the easier it will become.

When PMS is upon you and you feel like lashing out at the people around you, it’s a good time to practice being kind and gracious. Some day you may be a mom, and you’ll need to treat your children with kindness and grace regardless of your mood.

When you feel like crying… sometimes you just have to cry. But you can usually choose the when and the where. If you are upset and you know it’s because you are extra sensitive due to your period, it is possible to control those emotions until you are safely in your room, or car, or bathroom, or even with your closest girlfriends… then it is perfectly fine to release those pent up emotions and let the tears flow.

As far as I’m concerned, this is basic teaching for teenage girls. Maybe you’re reading along and thinking, yes that’s just common sense.

But apparently it’s becoming less common.

In Alberta, Canada this year a young woman was released after having killed her baby. She gave birth to the baby in her parents’ basement bathroom, cleaned herself up, and then strangled the baby with her panties. Once that was done, she went out to the backyard and tossed the dead baby over the fence for the neighbors to find. Don’t believe me? Read it here.

This woman was completely relieved of any consequence for the murder of her baby. Why? Because she couldn’t handle her emotions.

She does have to serve 100 hours of community service, go for counseling and inform the court if she gets pregnant again… but that is the consequence for “not disposing of a dead body” properly.

Instead of the life-in-prison sentence she received at first, she finally got off with no jail time at all because “she was alone and unsupported”. Basically… she wasn’t thinking straight and couldn’t control her emotions.

You see… it is becoming old-fashioned to have self-control. It’s more in fashion to blame all your actions on something, anything, just so it’s not your fault. If you get mad at your brother… oh well. It’s PMS. You have every right to be mad.

If you yell and scream at your mom because you are feeling extremely emotional… oh well. So sad too bad. It’s your hormones.

If you kill your newborn baby because you’re afraid the baby’s cries will bother you or your parents… that’s okay. Your emotions aren’t stable so it’s understandable.

NO IT’S NOT!!!

Girls… You have something very special God created in you… emotions. But He has also given you the freedom and the strength through His Holy Spirit to be self-controlled. Live to a higher standard. Be all that Christ has commanded you to be… even when you have PMS.