The Cure for the Common Crab

Today my name should have been "Mrs. CrabbyBody" instead of Mrs. Hendey. It started off with a bad night of sleep, because my beloved doctor-hubby worked the night shift in the ER last night - resulting in a relatively sleepless night for me. I miss his "in charge" presence around the house when he's gone overnight.

So the day got off to a less than positive start, with me running around barking orders at the boys while trying desperately to get us all out the door on time. Today was a "work" day, which meant putting on real clothes and carting my laptop and stuff to the parish office. The boys are troopers - I think they can sense when I'm stressed out and know when to keep their heads low.

The crabbing mounted throughout the morning as the amount of work to be done superseded the time allotment for the task - isn't that always the case? I don't know why it had me ticked off so badly today.

Arriving home after work and school, it was the usual "what's for dinner?" the minute we walked in the door...at 3:15 those boys are ready to know what I'm planning to cook, and I'm ready to order pizza.

Eric is studying for a big test, so I decided to try to do something nice for him and make his favorite, Jambalaya. "Offer it up..." I thought to myself, but still the crankiness persisted. Too much to do, too many holiday plans and decorations to attend to, too much laundry, too many emails and too little time.

With dinner on the table (do the math...it was 4:15!!!) I decided it was "Mom time". I sat down to knit, but still felt lousy, so I went and changed into sweats and headed to the garage for a workout.

Eureka!!! The cure for crabby mom was found! I don't know why I neglect my exercise routine when busy times hit, but it seems to be a trend. I skip going to the gym or walking and then this crazy cycle begins. Instead of making productive use of the extra time, all that results is an emotional meltdown. Don't get me wrong - I'm not a fitness queen by any stretch of the imagination! But I do know that a good walk, bike ride, or workout no fewer than three times a week is essential to my emotional well being.

Perhaps blogging about today's crabby attitude and the ultimate solution (sweating a little bit) will remind me in the weeks ahead that being good to myself will ultimately help me to be better for everyone else in my life. A good lesson for this mom to learn on the day before December starts!!!