Happy New Year 2013 Style

Happy New Year!

2012 was a bit of a stinker. I hate to say that because my beautiful Baby Girl was born. However, I also had to attend three funerals, cram my lively family into my parents' house for over a week when our power was knocked out, and my dad got a pacemaker...all in the last three months.

That is a lot for anyone to take. Still, I think I need to learn to handle these things better. Pitching a fit rarely makes anything better, am I right? With the beginning of a new year, it seems a perfect time to resolve to do things differently. The problem is that I am just not that great at keeping resolutions. I sort of lose focus.

Look--the boys are watching Car Toons! I love it when the alien says “daggum.” Tehehe. What was I talking about?

Luckily, I came across a couple of articles about choosing one word to focus on. Instead of making a complex resolution like "life a fuller life" or "join the circus" I can pick one word to tuck in my pocket and pull it out whenever I need it. Even I can keep focus on one word, right? Sure!

But what word to pick? Others chose words like trust or balance or patience. Patience sounded great. I definitely need more Patience. I mulled this over for a couple of days and realize that it would not work for me.

The problem with choosing Patience is that there is nothing to DO. Patience is an absence…of yelling, of irritation, of chucking Hotwheels at the stupid dishwasher. What the heck am I supposed to do instead?! Think about what happens when you tell your kid not to touch the Christmas tree. What do they do? They circle that tree just waiting for you to look away. They become like little junkies looking for their next fix. It is all they can think about. There is a reason that recovering addicts learn to knit. Like kids and crackheads, I need a task to focus on.

Breathe. My word is breathe. I can do that. I do it all the time. I am doing it right now. When I don't know what to do, I will breathe. If I want to yell or run away, I will breathe instead. Inhale. Exhale. Simple.

When Eldest starts to cry because the  Lego refuses to snap into place I will breathe. Every time Red whines for juice when I have 157 other things to do I will breathe. When Baby Girl demolishes a train track and the boys freak out I will breathe. What should I do when my mother-in-law asks me again why I do not want to go back to work? Breathe. What about when I freeze my arse off searching the minivan for Red's train only to find out that Husband had it in his coat? Breathe. (Well, first I will try to set Husband on fire with my Jedi mind powers. Eventually I will remember that I do not have the ability to start fires with my mind and then I will breathe.)

I can do this. I can breathe. You can do it too. We can do it together. Breathing is an appropriate response to any problem. Unless you are underwater. Then you should wait a little while. Once you resurface you can breathe. Inhale. Exhale. Ahhh...