Just A Little Crazy

There were a bunch of mothers on Oprah a couple of weeks ago talking about how they cope with the challenges of motherhood. One woman's suggestion was eye-opening. She talked about how she makes her kids think that she's just a little crazy...that she's on the edge and this just might be the incident that pushes her over.

I'm pretty sure my mother knew about this little trick because we lived in fear of her head exploding off of her body and through the roof for most of the 70's and into the 80's. But here's why the advice was so eye-opening. For the last 7 years, I've been pretty sure that I was headed for a mental breakdown. I've talked to my friend Kelli on several occasions about the chances that I could go into a fugue state and just wander off. I was hoping that with her nursing background she'd reassure me that people only do that in movies (she didn't).

The thing that makes me absolutely crazy is WHEN I HAVE TO SAY THE SAME THING 50 TIMES! I mean, WHY did I have to tell them to sit down for breakfast 10 times this morning? Really! We do it every morning, they shouldn't really need instructions at this point. By the 10th time, my eyes were bulging out of my head, saliva was flying from my lips, and glass was shattering all over the kitchen.

But maybe I'm not actually losing it. Maybe I'm just *pretending* to be crazy to scare them. Yes, that's it! What a comforting thought.
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