What cheers you? What brings you joy? When you need a quick pick-me up during the day, where do you turn?
Paint your toenails all different colors. If you really want to cheer up, paint your daughter’s too. If you REALLY need something extra, paint your son’s as well and see how long it takes dad to notice.
Lay on your back in the middle of the laundry pile and move the clothes around until they fit your body exactly. Then fake laughter until it becomes real or maniacal. Throw large clothing items at your children.
When your children are yelling at you, yell back in unrelated jibberishical syllables while dancing around and shaking your hair. Stop. Take a trip to the potty by way of the Cadbury mini-egg stash and stay there for a day or two. (If your home contains young children, you are authorized to peak through the crack under the door every hour or so.)
Eddie of the house of Bauer.
Conduct and star in your own living room opera. If you’re at work, go find your car in the parking garage and scare a few unsuspecting commuters with your muffled melodies. CD soundtrack is optional.
If all else fails, post your medical history on the internet and watch the encouraging comments pour in. I’ve got this goiter, ya see…
I’d love to hear what little releases you all have up your sleeves.
Seriously, I come and read a few blogs. I visit your site, Dandelion Mama, and Mommy Mormon Wars if I want a good laugh. There are others that I visit because I’m interested in things they do… but those are the blogs for a nice big laugh!
Another thing I do is call my sister. She always has something not right in her life… makes mine look a lot easier at times. 😀
I listen to angsty music. Aerosmith is the best for this.
Or, I go for a looong walk with the kids hangin’ onto the stroller.
Or I eat a toblerone.
Or *emergency* I go check a funny chick-lit book out of the library and read and read and read until I feel better enough to do the dishes.
They said on the radio this morning that turning up the music loud and singing along relieves stress because of all the deep breathing. I personally subscribe to this method.
I like to turn on the fireplace and snuggle under a soft cozy blanket with a good book.
watch great old movies
talk to my kids or grandkids
consume copious amounts of chocolate (in any of it’s forms)
create something, like a quilt block or Princess Aurora dress
have a major kiss-fest with my sweetie
or take a nice nap (How’s that for varied interests?)
We turn on Fiddler on the Roof music and re-inact the Jewish bottle dance scene using 2 liter plastic pop bottles on the boys’ heads. When that doesn’t work, we follow up with a pop bottle war they are fun to bop and even more fun to fill with water to wage an all out war outside.
Or, we break out the bubbles and blow bubbles inside the house.
Or, we pretend we are being spied upon by the Illuminatie and we hide under the table to do our school, shriek and dive for cover every time a plane goes by (we live near an airport), and act crazy and paranoid until we are all giggling. EVEN the STUFFED ANIMALS are suspect on these days! The kids think it’s a riot.
Or, we declare a jammie party and everyone puts on pj’s (no matter what time it is), we make pop corn, and snack foods and watch old family movies together.
The laundry pile snow angel while lobbing clothing at your kids and laughing maniacally you described sounds fabulous.
I turn to chocolate way too often. Hmm..eating some now in fact. Also, just entering a Target with its sights and smells can make my day. Sam’s Club has a similar effect during sample time. Music and dancing around, checking blogs, walks, going to the library sans children. Sounds like I need lots of pick-me-ups doesn’t it?
Hope today is a good one for you!
I make bread. Or, more likely, cookies. Then I eat them.
I sometimes just let out one big long scream, then try to get my poor, terrified kids to stop crying. This works especially well, because then they actually start cleaning up, to try to appease me.
Or I wait for Derek to come home so I can go to the library.
Or I order running clothes online from roadrunnersports.
Or I give my kids a big pack of band-aids to play with, so I can knit while watching a chick-flick.
Or I get out the photo album and show my kids their baby pictures.
First I must say all of these comments make me laugh!
Speaking of painting son’s nails, when I want a pick me up I do something naughty.
I don’t know why being naughty makes me feel so good, but it’s part of the way I work.
I used to paint my eldest son’s nails and watch my husband get incredibly ticked off when he got home.
I have two really strange ones that work for myself and for my son. You will think I am really weird now, but here goes:
I sing “Papa, Can you Hear Me?” (from the movie Yentl) really loud, whilst trying my best to imitate Barbra Streisand’s facial expressions and the weird way she does her mouth when she sings. This always gets a laugh.
The other, and this is really strange, but it is a guaranteed laugh, is to dry your front teeth and the inside of your upper lip with a paper napkin or paper towel and tuck your upper lip under until it no longer shows. (you have to dry your teeth and lip or it won’t stick like it should. I can’t believe I am typing these instructions.) All that will show are your teeth, and it will appear you have no upper lip. Do this to yourself in the mirror to see for yourself first. I guarantee you will laugh. My family has done this for years. If someone needs cheering, we will just turn our heads away at some point in the conversation, do this, and the next time they look at us, our top lip will be gone. Are you now sorry you asked? Did you you know you had twisted readers out there?!
I do absolutely nothing. I wallow in self pity until it seems that the world must indeed end or I go to sleep, and I can get to the point where I’m truly not sure which one will be first. It’s a spiral that can be hard to break, especially since I tell myself “you’re in a self-pity spiral – go eat something, turn on some music or something”, and then I lecture the little voice sternly that spirals don’t really exist,and truly the world is a dark dark place. And then I lecture myself again, and then it hits me that I’ve been battling in my head for a half an hour, and then I find that hysterically funny, and then I demand that my husband make me a snack, and he does, and all is well with the world.
Husband doesn’t mind if the boys toes are painted, so it’s not as much fun…
*I hide in the pantry and sneak food I just told the kids they can’t have (today I’ve been stuffing entire purple peeps into my mouth and then coming out looking all innocent).
*I put the kids to bed early, grab the Big Book of Suduko, or a trashy romance novel (please don’t tell) and climb into a too hot bath with a big glass of OJ teetering on the edge until I turn into a walking prune.
*I turn off the TV, break out all the Little People playsets (all 6 of them) and set them all up in the living room. Then we have very interesting conversations via small plastic people.
*I pack all the kids up in the van and drive over to my Aunt & Uncle in-law’s house. The kids harass their 12 year old cousin for an hour or two while I shoot the breeze with his teenage sisters and pretend I’m 17 again.
*I call my bestfriend and talk about all the magnificently STUPID things we did when we were 19…and them I’m thrilled with where my life is now…oh, and I eat chocolate while we’re talking…and possibly lock myself in my room while the kids watch Cars for the 4th time in a row.
Husband doesn’t mind if the boys toes are painted, so it’s not as much fun…
*I hide in the pantry and sneak food I just told the kids they can’t have (today I’ve been stuffing entire purple peeps into my mouth and then coming out looking all innocent).
*I put the kids to bed early, grab the Big Book of Suduko, or a trashy romance novel (please don’t tell) and climb into a too hot bath with a big glass of OJ teetering on the edge until I turn into a walking prune.
*I turn off the TV, break out all the Little People playsets (all 6 of them) and set them all up in the living room. Then we have very interesting conversations via small plastic people.
*I pack all the kids up in the van and drive over to my Aunt & Uncle in-law’s house. The kids harass their 12 year old cousin for an hour or two while I shoot the breeze with his teenage sisters and pretend I’m 17 again.
*I call my bestfriend and talk about all the magnificently STUPID things we did when we were 19…and them I’m thrilled with where my life is now…oh, and I eat chocolate while we’re talking…and possibly lock myself in my room while the kids watch Cars for the 4th time in a row.
In comparison to your ideas and those of everyone else here, I have nothing insightful or funny to suggest.
I just dance. I turn on some upbeat happy music, and I do silly dances with my kids. Yup.
Singing time with the kids. There is NOTHING in this world that does not look better after bellowing “Eensy Weensy Spider” and doing the aerobic versions of “Wheels on the Bus.”
honestly?!
I pile all the kids in the car and go to Sonic for slushes and a really big Dr. Pepper for mommy.
or I force the kids to have “quiet time”/naptime while I read MSL or other people’s blogs.
It all starts with a pity party, then I get the
-angsty music
-chocolate
I eat the chocolate, sing to the music. The end.
There much better.
I bake. I bake a lot, I make a huge mess and ignore it until DH gets home, and usually he’ll clean it up for me. I then sit down and consume at leat half of said baked goods. Usually some form of chocolate is involved in the baking process, but if it’s not (or just not enough) I’ll top it all off with a huge bowl (or carton, depends on my mood) of double chocolate brownie ice cream.
All the comfort food really does wonders for my diet.
It’s quite simple, really.
1) Get can of tuna.
2) Throw away actual tuna, as it is nasty and an affront to society.
3) Rub remaining sauce onto one cat.
4) Call other cat.
5) Happy go-fun-time =)
(Haven’t done that with our present cats yet, but the day will come…)
Your post and all these comments are cracking me up.
Nothing funny here. I just get outside with my boys and let them make up any game they want to that I have to play. Chase pretending we’re bunnies so we have to hop everywhere. Hide-n-seek, racing, follow the leader, catch … whatever, as long as it’s outside, it’s active and interactive, and I’m not in charge.
You know those cards from Hallmark that make music or have sound clips from movies? I bought one that has this written on the front: When I think about what you’ve been going through…
And then you open it, and a man’s voice yells : “I’m as mad as hell, and I’m not going to take this anymore!”
This cracks me up everytime! 🙂
Depending on my mood, I sneak off to my bed with a box of After Eight chocolate mints or a pound of pistachio nuts and a good fluffy magazine, all of which I half hide under the covers in case someone tries to catch me.
1) Get some girls
2) Girls Night Out!
3) Laugh and be silly, come home refreshed…
Alternatively:
1) Get babysitter
2) Get hubby
3) Get b&b reservations someplace in San Juan islands
4) Escape for wild weekend of reconnection and sex where you don’t have to worry about the kids walking in.
I’m all about the moments away somedays!
When stuck in traffic, I used to pull up teddy grams and make them fight on top of my steering wheel. I never looked from side to side to see if anyone was watching me and I did it all with a straight face. I added lots of arms waving and loud yelling. I figured someone was getting a kick out of, but even if no one was watching me, I didn’t know one way or the other so I pretended (in my head) everyone was thrilled.
Good Lordy, I’m a dork.
* I make up a new language and speak only it
* I dance like a maniac – and mean it
* I repeat everything my son says. Everything.
* Fill the bathtub with bubbles and blow them all over the bathroom
* Put temporary tattoos all over my son’s legs
* Draw mustaches and beards on all of our faces and take pictures of ourselves
* Sing my son’s favorite song – but use the wrong words – over and over again.
Just a few …
1. Go for a walk.
2. Starbucks, Starbucks, Starbucks.
3. Call my hubby.
4. Find time to be alone, without even one child, for a long and leisurely trip through my favorite store.
5. Organize something. Crazy, but true. It brings me more peace to have order restored and to feel that I have accomplished something useful. In fact, the company I work for has a great free resource at http://www.organizingmyhome.com to help think through how to organize kids’ rooms.
6. Watch a movie lacking much plot, but packed with stupid humor.
Excellent ways to have fun with your family and debug yourself!
I like to involve my husband. When I get in a creative mood sometimes I draw all over him. He doesn’t have any tattoos and think he looks all macho with my temporary body art.
We are both artists and he sometimes does the same thing to me.
As for Baby Diva-she is in to playing horsey. As in sit on your neck, grab your hair till it falls out type of horsey. Some games should never be played!
Running, and eating…although not at the same time. Also, a little Diet Coke never hurt.
OOOh! “Not to Pensive” reminded me of one we did when we were in an apartment and couldn’t be loud or stomp on the floor. Take a spray can of cat nip and spray your cat’s tail, then turn him loose on himself! 🙂
Hey you took my ideas! Except for the laundry one. I don’t like laying in dirty laundry:-)
Hey, goiters are always good for sympathy comments. I should know.
Seriously I meant to give you virtual hugs and encouragement after your earlier post but I’m so glad half the blogging universe beat me to it. I’m also glad you’ve found a few thing to cheer you up a bit. I do think the longer days (more sunshine!) will help soon too. Can you hang out in the potty until March 21?
Singing and unrelated dancing with scarves: http://www.rookiemoms.com/bollywood/
… or crying and hiding in the bathroom. Eating way too many cupcakes. Making up fun activities for my site. Call a funny friend.
I gotta try that medical history idea though — genius!
Just tried the toenail painting on son thing. So far, pretty uplifting. Can’t wait until the hubby comes home. One of my other favorite things is to go to Home Depot and look at paint chips. I think I have every paint chip. Sometimes we get them out on the floor and arrange them according to most hideous colors. That’s always fun. I love your blog!