I am one of those people that sweats the small stuff. This morning, I woke up and immediately noticed that the trash was still inside despite multiple reminders from me last night about trash day. While I know that I shouldn’t get annoyed about the trash, I can easily justify my feelings. It becomes another thing for me to do in the rush to get out the door in the morning. I can’t leave it until later because the trash never comes at the same time each week.

Last night, I promised I wouldn’t let anything bother me today. It gets tiring letting every little thing bother me. For me and my family. Today, Lance and I had planned the perfect date. One last day for the two of us before we become a family of seven. I read something about not letting anyone steal your joy. I like how it sounds. Nothing earth shattering, basically you can’t control anyone but yourself. I know this, but still I lose my cool. Way too often. So now we’re trying this tactic. I will remain joyful despite the teenager who overslept this morning. Despite the four year old who takes 13 minutes to get dressed every morning. It kind of worked, I still got a bit mad when I had to trek Goose all the way to class so he wouldn’t be late because of the two slugs this morning.

When the kids screamed at the babysitter for ten minutes straight, I ignored it. I felt bad with them clawing all over me, but I was singing to myself “you’re not going to steal my joy”. It might be a fault of mine, but I knew the second I opened my mouth, I would lose it. I don’t mind crying, but fussy, whiny screams via the Baby Hulk drive me insane. I can try to be comforting, but the kids only go into overdrive. I might look like a cold hearted mother, but in this situation, nothing works for them. They do this crap to my mom half the time, it’s just how they act with a babysitter.

I left for my perfect date with Lance happy because I didn’t lose it. I felt bad for the boys being upset, but knew they were in good hands and that Lance and I really needed this time alone. We take more solo trips than most people, but other than that, we don’t do a lot without the kids mostly due to me. Both Lance and I needed time to talk without kids around and prepare ourselves for this Friday. And the date was even better because we didn’t have to talk about how sorry we were for losing our cool.

Later when Goose refused to work on his project assigned last Friday and due tomorrow, I didn’t get upset. It would appear his public speaking skills are like mine in that they stink. It would also appear that he should have started working on this over the weekend. But I didn’t get mad at him or Lance (who was in charge of the project). It’s not my grade, so I chose not to let my joy be stolen.

Lance has been calling the kids “joy thieves” all day. He’s mostly kidding. I am hoping that I stay resolved on not letting anyone steal my joy. I know I’ll be much happier as will my family.