Words of the Week

Grumpy is good for you. I knew there was a reason I like Eeyore.

"Whereas positive mood seems to promote creativity, flexibility, co-operation and reliance on mental shortcuts, negative moods trigger more attentive, careful thinking, paying greater attention to the external world."
- Joe Forgas, Australian psychology expert

Just Another Manic Morning

Once again, Old Wahoo went bananas this morning, even though I had blueberries on my cereal.

Between fixing breakfast and lunch, Alex dawdling and Rob poking and prodding his brothers, I lost my cool for the second straight morning. To cap it off, in fact, Matt gave me a particularly ripe diaper. Good times were here again, and I went on a storming-I'm-only-speaking-in-short-loud-guttural-phrases mini-rampage. Moms and Dads endure these type of things everyday, but these frustrations have their own uniquely aggravating feel.

But as my Grandma keeps telling me, "This, too, shall pass."

Of course, it did, thanks to a bike ride I didn't want to take and even blamed my wife (in my own, charming passive-aggressive way) for making me take with the boys on the way to Rob's school. Rob quickly showed his good size, pointing out construction projects and planning for his next contraption. Alex, well, he just displayed those blue eyes and made it impossible not to smile. And the Moose, Matt, waved to everybody, from construction workers to the poor, lonely, fat kid walking to school. How can you not love that?

Look, the bike ride didn't make everything better. I'm still a bit cranky. But it helped, and seeing the good in the boys helped more. 

Still, even the good times will pass.

In fact, when I returned home, I discovered a milk-Cheerios spill in the kitchen, which threatens the fragile (and ever-so clean) ecosystem there.

I guess I better clean up.

Volcanic eruptions

We've had a couple of meltdown moments this week - not too surprising since the kids are just back from a weeklong vacation to Florida and came home to a week off from school with winter break. Nevertheless, the frequency of the volcanic eruptions was a concern, so I googled up some research from the Mayo Clinic. Now I just need some help on keeping my temper in chekc.

When good ideas meet bad moods

Good ideas rarely go unpunished.  

Today I had the bright idea of spending time with Rob and Alex while I hired a babysitter to watch Matt. We would go sledding, I told the boys, and they thought that sounded great - until the babysitter came. 

When she arrived, Rob and Alex thought it would be much more fun to stay home and Matt decided to grab his shoes. Finally, after a little coercing (and a few jokes that were met with scowls), the big boys agreed to go. Matt wasn't too happy, but he got over it rather quickly. Sledding was a big hit, even if a little muddy. 

Fortunately for today, all's well that ends well.