Keep Calm and Carry On

The past few months have been a bit challenging in the 'things that go smoothly' department. We started in October with a sinus infection that would not go away for sweet baby Scarlett, followed by lots of traveling during the holidays, followed by an evil stomach bug that decimated everyone in this house and today, my poor husband wound up in the ED with horrible abdominal pain.

Things are not going smoothly.

So how does one 'keep calm and carry on,' or least 'maintain and stay sane?'

1). Stay focused. I find it best not to let your mind wander off of the task at hand. For example, while cleaning up the projectile puke from your sick baby, don't daydream about getting a pedicure or a massage. You may wind up dropping everything and running away. Eventually you will come back, and the puke will still be there to clean up so it's best just to stick with it.

2). Get cable. Nothing will make you realize that it's really not that bad after watching any episode of "The Real Housewives of....," or "Teen Mom," or really any so-called reality TV show. Turns out my reality at its worst is far better than theirs.

3). Outsource any domestic chore possible. This can be a bit tricky because you don't want to drain the bank account, but honestly, having someone come in and literally do your dirty work at least once is worth it. Think of what you can do with that extra time! No don't think of all that other work that needs to be done. Think of something fun....like napping.

4). Perfect a slightly crazy facial expression. It really takes all the pressure off of trying maintain that 'I've got things all together' look, and it will most likely keep people who annoy you away. You get extra points for disheveled hair and dirty clothes.

5). Make sure you have an emergency stash of wine and chocolate handy. This is just a good guideline to follow for anything.

6). And finally...have a sense of humor. I'm not suggesting that laughter is the best medicine or makes everything better. Let's face it, there's nothing really funny about a screaming one year old who's sick or a trip to the ED with your husband who's in excruciating pain. But it does lend a different perspective to everything and makes them more bearable.

As I was thinking about this final and quite frankly most important point, I went to my old friend Google to search for some poetic quote about having a sense of humor. I found one by Bill Cosby who said, "You can turn painful situations around through laughter. If you can find humour in anything, even poverty, you can survive it.”. I found the quote in the article below written a few years ago. I like what it had to say about the importance of humor.


http://www.whakate.com/emonitor/how-important-is-a-good-sense-of-humour/



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