Tuesday, July 06, 2010

I know the internet doesn't care

about the heat, but my body does. Other things it cares about that I would rather it didn't: the smell of food cooking in neighbor's yards; the smell of photos that have been living in a smoking house for 30 years; the smell of low tide, over a mile away; any smells, ever, in my immediate vicinity; our new summer schedule with the kids (MWF); the damn sun; every movement I have to make; about a thousand other things.


I find that I am easily, easily frustrated right now, and I hate it: I feel whiny and petulant and ungrateful. Nothing is horrifically wrong - nothing new is happening, and yet, the fact that my face isn't better, the fact that I'm too exhausted to help the kids check things off our "Stuff we want to do this summer" checklist, the fact that the incessant humming drone of the air conditioner is driving me batty - it's all making me feel cranky.

We don't have the kiddos till Friday this week, since their parents have some vacation days this week, and so I've little distraction from my crankiness, and that makes me feel even more ridiculous, because I'm depending on a 10 year old and a 4 year old to distract me. They are a great distraction, though...

You wouldn't know it by this post, but we've had to declare this the Summer of No Whining at our house, because Lil Girl is smack in the middle of a very whiny phase. (Says the woman who just whine-typed for five minutes straight. Does it count if it's on the internet?) She's catching on pretty quickly - since we can't hear whining, she doesn't get what she wants, so she changes her strategies swiftly.

Aside from the whining - and fights over who gets to sit where in the car that I remember all too well from my own childhood, and NOW I get why we all eventually had assigned seats - they've been great so far. They usually are, but now that they're getting older, we're trying to schedule more outings... having them (and us) all cooped up in the house all day everyday is just asking for trouble.

Last week I sat on the bandstand at the beach while Mum and the children wandered around looking for shells and rocks (They brought home quite the collection). We watched planes come in (Logan's right past the beach), had lunch, blew bubbles, and decided to come back for ice cream next time.


It was a pretty great day.

I was going to add a "but" to that last sentence, but I'd rather not: No more whining. Besides, it was a pretty great day, and I need to remember that part, let the rest of it all go. Let the Summer of No Whining commence, and help me to remember that it applies to grown ups and not just four-year-olds.

2 comments:

Sue Jackson said...

Sorry you've been feeling kinda grumpy - it's the heat!

But your days with the kids DO sound like good old-fashioned fun. I love the Summer of No Whining idea!

Sue

Crazed Nitwit said...

No whining? Guess I should stop writing my blog, huh? I'm sitting here thinking that I'd rather be anywhere else but home for the next two days. Being so close to the water/beach sounds like paradise to me right now.

I'm ready for some alone time. No spouse, no kids, no dog. Spouse is all bent out of shape about our finances, some of which is my fault, bit dang it, I don't need his stupid email about it. I was also sent an email about how to find a job. Hmmmmmm let me remember, who was unemployed for 17 months? No I said the chicken. I cannot believe he sent me an email that he thought was a pep talk but was really 99% lecture and criticism.

I have no clue how it feels to be you. My knee has been hurting(I believe it's minor osteoarthritis) and damn it's not fun.

I know one thing for sure~while other people seems to have a better, more fun, exciting, whatever life it usually only looks that way from the outside.