Day: October 17, 2012

It is not news to me that crankiness is contagious, people can give it to each other. Given the quantity of cranky that has filled this house in the past few days, one would think that we’d somehow acquired a particularly infectious strain. Except, when I look closely at all the different flavors of cranky they all seem to have spontaneous origination within the host. Link had a headache and homework he didn’t want to do. Also he was hungry, because hunger is nigh constant when one is fifteen. Kiki was cranky because she was tired and it was nearly bedtime when she learned that the following day was an A schedule day. She had prepared for a B schedule day. Gleek was cranky because we didn’t have a book she wanted, the cat would not consent to being a snuggle toy, and life in general is angry making without any other reason when one is a pre-teen. Patch was cranky because he didn’t pass his math test and he got his third black eye for the year by crashing into a friend on a trampoline. Howard was cranky from deadline stress and just because some days are that way. My case of cranky was definitely made worse by all of the above, but probably originated in a creeping feeling that there was something important I was failing to do properly.

We did not all explode into crankiness simultaneously. Instead it has been as if our house were built where the river of grouchy meets the sea of irritability. The tides ebbed and flowed creating eddies, rip tides, periods of calmness, and the occasional spectacular rogue wave. The good news is that we are all at least somewhat self-aware human beings and thus able to recognize that we are not being entirely reasonable. the most recent and amusing example of this was Patch stomping his feet and crying because Gleek, who had already finished her homework, got to watch Mythbusters, while he had to complete his work first.
“But I’ll miss some of it!” Patch wailed.
I looked at him and raised an eyebrow. (I recommend that all prospective parents learn the eyebrow trick, it is so very useful. Also you get to feel like Spock.)
“And the show will completely evaporate off of Netflix while Gleek watches so that it is gone forever?” I asked.
Patch half scowled and half smiled at me. Then he pulled the corners of his mouth down into a faux sad face.
“Yes.” he sighed. “It will be gone forever.”
Then he stopped complaining and completed his work in record time.

The cranky comes and goes, but it feels like the storm surge is settling out. Hopefully we’ll have calmer waters soon. Until then we try our best to not spread the cranky around.