March 24, 2011

Cranky Pants

My husband has had his Cranky Pants* on for the past few days. And I’m fed up, because this bout of Foul-Moodedness has come after a particularly bad run in our family.


Just last week, Little Man was exceedingly grumpy for a period of several days, due to Too Much Homeworking, insufficient Nintendo Time, and other unspecified Dissatisfactions. Prior to that, three year old Boo was a nightmare for a week, from a combination of Exhaustion, Adjustment To Pre-School, and Spoiled Third-Childedness**.

And before that, well, I was in a bit of a bad mood, for no reason other than...well... I am me. And I seem to get into bad moods fairly regularly (using ‘fairly’ in the sense of ‘very’).

Sometimes, of course, I have reason to be grouchy. I may have had bad news that day. I might be pre-menstrual. Or menstrual. Or pre-menopausal. I might be tired. Or stressed. I may be suffering severely from Excessive-Offspringitis***.

I might have lost my keys in the cold aisle of the supermarket. I may have lost three year old Boo in the supermarket. I may have watched Pinkela eat the last spoon of Nutella and realised there’s none left for me.

On the other hand, I may be cross for no reason at all. I’m a temperamental person. Which is fine – charming, even – as it goes with my fiery, passionate nature. Except that my husband is fiery and passionate too. And to stir things up a bit, so is our son. And to tip us completely over the edge, so is Boo. Which makes for a hell of a lot of fire in just one family.

Thankfully, nine year old Pinkela is extremely even-tempered and calm (which actually is a bit of a worry, as I have no idea who her real parents are). However her older brother and baby sister more than compensate for her serenity, making my husband and I look like beacons of calm by comparison. Between the four of us, we are one big rollercoaster of emotion.

The problem, of course, is that this is utterly exhausting. I’m no expert on statistics, but it’s clear that if I’m in a bad mood around once a week (using ‘once a week’ in the sense of ‘a lot more than that’), and my husband, Little Man and Boo are each in a bad mood around once a week, then at least one of us is in a bad mood on nearly any given day. Which means that the family emotional rollercoaster tends to be a race downhill more often than it is coasting on the flat.

Still, the rollercoaster ride won’t last for long. We only have another 18 to 20 years before the kids will hop out of the car and leave my husband and I in the fun park alone. And then we will hobble over to the Merry-Go-Round, and circle gently in nostalgic quiet, as the families scream wildly around us.

And I shall look back upon our rollercoaster days, and smile.

*These are metaphorical, rather than literal, pants, although his choice of trousers has been somewhat limited by my failure to pick up the drycleaning earlier this week (a factor no doubt contributing to the donning of said Cranky Pants).

**(possibly not an actual diagnostic term.)

***( if this isn’t an actual term, it should be.)

15 comments:

  1. But, but, but- you JUST GOT THE PUBLISHED COPIES OF YOUR FIRST BOOK! Take those cranky pants off and go celebrate! Surely you've wet right through them in the excitement anyway.*

    *And by this I mean in terms of losing bladder control from the thrill of seeing your name in print. Minds out of the gutter, people.

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  2. Must have autographed copy of said book. Might help with own crankiness...

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  3. LOL would love to be a fly on the wall in your house! NOT! :-)

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  4. Your place sounds like our place - I was nodding my head furiously. Only difference is Mr 18 & I are like Pinkela and Mr 17 and M are like the rest of you. What mine lack in numbers, they make up for in ability to be in bad moods - it's almost at Olympic level here!

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  5. I'm sure this is not true, and that your house is an oasis of calmity. That's calmity, NOT calamity........

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  6. Oh man, SO TRUE. It's like, whoever is in the shittiest mood runs the entire family. Then gets over it, and passes the shittiness on like a baton to the next one in line.

    I have the baton A LOT.

    xo

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  7. My shitty mood started in 2003. Despite medicinal bottles, I mean doses, of alcohol it continues to rear it's shitty head.

    So I so hear ya sista :)

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  8. We call it 'passing the baton' in our house, because without fail, there's someone who's not happy, Jan*.

    *if you're reading this post from anywhere other than Aust, then I apologise as you'll have NO IDEA** who Jan is.

    **Too tired now to explain. Sorry.

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  9. Such bad planning Kerri - can't you just schedule in all your bad moods all on the one day? You can then use that day to lodge formal complaints with government authorities and insurance companies and other fury-requiring tasks. And then all the cranky pants can be washed on the same day, sorry the dry cleaning of the cranky pants, leaving the remainder of the week for Nutella and fairy floss.

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  10. You need to use this to your advantage.. I see a new book ( just because you've done one...there WILL be clamoring for a number 2...not THAT number 2)

    "when my husband wears his cranky pants...it's not FAIR because it's my turn"

    Is Pinkela the Peacemaker also a perfect princess?
    She sounds such a sweetie! Xx

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  11. I seem to have cranky pants in every shape and colour these days. As do my children. Is a real bugger when everyone pulls them out of the wardrobe on the same day...

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  12. I feel sorry for my BIL, because BIL has 6 little girls ( in human form ) plus his wife nesting in his castle. With all those hormones flying around every day, BIL never has the time, or maybe it's the " courage "...being a man and all, and how could a man ever understand... to ever wear the cranky pants.

    Love your blog Kerri :)

    Sarah x

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  13. But cranky pants are oh so 'in' right now. I've almost worn mine out!

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  14. Thank you so much for sharing your mood swings! I thought I was the only one who got cranky for no reason. Seriously it could be something as small as not being able to have coffee in my favourite cup because it's in the dishwasher and the dishwasher is going. That shit ruins my whole day (and boyfriend's day too).

     Sometimes when I know I've been really overreacting to nothing I'm just waiting for boyfriend to say "I'm so over this" and leave. How does your husband react? Do you ever think that you're pushing it too much?

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  15. I'm forever pushing it too much! And he's forever threatening to leave! But he never does. Nowhere else to go, and besides, all the food is here...... xxxxxxx 

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