When Grumpy Comes to Visit

Grumpy is the dwarf that visits us most often around here in the Land of Lentz.  He always shows up unexpectedly and usually in the company of Sleepy.  Lately, since we’ve been fighting the stomach bug here for over a month, he has shown up a lot.  He is the most unwelcome of guests but for some reason I always tolerate him much longer than I should.  Ever been there?

Honestly, so far today has been a rough day.  It really started last night when all three of my children (yes, even the one in my womb) decided to rob me of a good night’s sleep.  So, I began my day drowsy and aching.  Even though I don’t leave the house each day to go to a job, my day begins with the first “Mommy” of the morning (which of course came extra early this morning).

Unfortunately, I am behind on my housework.  The baby and I were both sick last week and I’ve gotten behind on laundry and cleaning.  (Well, really to tell the truth, I’ve been behind for longer than that!  My body just slows down when I’m pregnant.)  It is my nature, when things seem to be spinning out of control, to become quite unpleasant.  I become short tempered and hard to live with.  I yell more than I should, I wear my emotions on my sleeve, and I complain too much.  I become GRUMPY! I really don’t like myself too much when I am like this.  That’s how I started out today, until….

I decided in my frustration to stop, take a deep breath, and reach for my Bible.  I took ten minutes to fill my mind with the word of God and then said a quick prayer and decided to change my attitude from here on out.  So what if I didn’t get enough sleep and my house is destroyed!  Being grumpy toward my children and my husband will not make me feel better nor will it clean my house and do my laundry.  It will just make everyone else miserable too.  Which is exactly what my sinful human nature really wants - It wants everyone else to suffer too.  How awful that I let this get a foothold for even a minute.

So, Grumpy is gone…for now.  I must remember that I know how to get rid of him when he drops in again. Though, Sleepy looks to be sticking around - at least until naptime!