It’s true. There is no vowel in PMS, and it couldn’t have made me happier for my first grade reader to recognize this fact.

Prior to her blurting out this fast fact, I was snuggling with my 11 year old, Abby, at bedtime and trying to have a very serious conversation about moods, body changes, and the uber of them all, the menstrual cycle. My conversation with Abby (while Maggie was listening intently in the next door bed) was to see if she had heard any rumblings of period talks with her 5th grade girl group to see how much she knew. She had been darn moody lately, and I felt the need to talk about hormones and moodiness to encourage her to recognize her own emotions and behaviors.

This was my first ever girl talk (with my own girl), and I didn’t want to damage her by doing it wrong. I was being super understanding about her moods, emotions, etc. When I introduced the idea of PMS, I heard the pipes of Maggie, the first grade reader who is making her way to DRA level K (!), and who seems to know every phonics rule ever written. Thank you, Mrs. Evitch! And she bellowed, “No, it can’t be PMS! There’s no vowel in it!”