Monday, November 22, 2010

Maddeningly Unhelpful Monday--Mind Power

So as you can see, I'm not doing so well on NaHoCleMo. But I am doing very well on what I like to call NaLoWhiMo. Yes, that's right, national loud whining month. It goes something like this, "Woe is me. Cleaning makes me whine. Why does everybody leave all their stuff everywhere for me to clean?" I am definitely wracking up the minutes on that goal.

But all this whining has reminded me of why I simplified after the third child (and even more after the fourth). Why I decided that if dishes and laundry were done then I was happy. And that is, because cleaning up after people makes me grumpy. It makes me think bad thoughts about my lovely children, like, 'Do they really have to leave the milk out every single morning? Why can't they remember this simple task?' Or, 'Seriously, they have to leave candy wrappers on the counter right above the trash?? How lazy does one have to be to not open the door and put the trash inside?' And I don't like thinking these thoughts about my children.

So I decided something last week. Instead of getting frustrated when I had to pick up a wet towel off the ground for the fiftieth time that week, I started saying, out loud: "That's so cute." As in, 'Oh, it's so cute when my kids can't remember to put the milk away. There's nothing like warm milk.' Or, 'Oh, isn't it adorable that their trail of open drawers and cupboards lets me know exactly what they did in the kitchen.' It seemed ridiculous at first, but it really works. Every time I said it, I really did think about how dang cute my kids are. All four of those adorable (somewhat lazy) little buggers. So my advice to you is, apply the phrase "that's so cute" more in your life. Try it when your significant other is making you angry, the lady checking out in front of you at the grocery store is irritating you, just whenever you're feeling some loud whining coming on. If nothing else, at least it stops the whining for a little while.

8 comments:

  1. Glad to see I'm not the only one with kids who drop wet towels, don't put their wrappers away, don't hang up their coats, leave food out...

    I'll have to try your advice. I'm sure my kids will thank you if it works.

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  2. Sounds like our kids might be related... I like your idea. "Wow, isn't cute how smelly this bedroom is?" It works!

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  3. Can apply this to my cats as well? As in, How cute, I wonder which one left me this pile in the hallway. (So, not over it.)

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  4. When the cashier at Walmart coughs on my groceries -as hard as I try- I can find nothing cute about it.

    But my kids are cute. Yes, even when they are covered in mashed bananas and poop.

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  5. Your kids are cute! Especially to me because I never have to clean up after them.

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  6. I love this advice. Let me try it out. It's so cute that my border collie jumped on top of me in the middle of the night!

    Hmmm. I'll have to try it a few more times. Still not feeling the cuteness. :)

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  7. I would burn that phrase out in the first two hours of my day with my family and if I thought it was cute, then they will add more things for me to do until I think its down right adorable. lol

    I do like your advice though, thanks for the post.

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