Yesterday I yelled at my kids a LOT. They were being naughty and mean. They would not stop fighting and screaming and whining. I can handle the fighting. But their screams that are ear piercing and the whining in their wimpy little whiney voices was almost enough to make Mary Poppins pick up a bottle of tequila. And it was all over the dumbest stuff. Christopher stole a cracker from Cash. Cash sat down next to Christopher to color with him. Choo-choo (the dog) put her tail on Cash's toes. Mommy cut the PB&J in the middle instead of from corner to corner.
I looked around my little house and wondered how it became so messy. I wanted to take a broom, sweep everything into a giant box, and throw it all away. I even contemplated running away and never look back again. But instead ... I put a hole through the wall, sat down on my bed, cried, and screamed into a pillow. Hey, it stopped me from losing my cool and blowing up at my boys. I just took it out on an innocent wall and pillow instead.
After my temper tantrum and my face dried, I went and dropped the big one off at school and put the little one down for his nap, and then I finally had the chance to turn on the TV.
That's when I started to see the first few pictures from Hurricane Sandy coming in and the fury the East Coasters were going through. It left me mind boggled. I sat on my couch in my warm, cozy, little, (and still messy) living room. I looked around at my children's toys and at my fuzzy Uggs, watching TV, checking Facebook on my phone, drinking my Diet Coke. All while people on the East Coast were trying to figure out how and when they were going to escape from the top of their rooves as the raging tides just took out everything they owned. And at the people who evacuated their homes for a safe shelter only to find out that their entire neighborhood had been burned down. And at the little ones, terrified as to what was going to come next and when they would have electricity again. And then a story came on about two little boys having a slip over who were both killed by a fallen tree. 2. Innocent. Little. Boys. Sleeping.
And that's when my problems
AGAIN ........... became so very small.
And that's also when ... for the first time that day ... I cried for somebody else. Instead of feeling sorry for myself.
And then there's this. Which I have no words for. It is one of the most {insert adjective here} pictures I have seen yet...
To my East Coast blog readers (whenever you get internet again): Please know that you are not alone. You have the entire world praying for you and thinking about you every second. As Robin Roberts always optimistically says: "This too, shall pass". Hang in there. And don't be afraid to reach out for help. We are all here for you.
