Crabcakes

And not the delicious kind I sometimes order for lunch served with mayonnaise on a brioche roll.

Dealt with a major case of the cranky-pants at our house this morning, and unfortunately it was NOT the baby or even the toddler. I know exactly how to deal with those---how to rock, feed, distract, amuse the wee ones into coos or giggles or some semblance of calmness. And, no, it wasn't me. I can deal with that, too...extra coffee, reading an uplifting blog, promising myself a yummy breakfast when I get to work. This time is was the man-of-the-house, G.

You've all heard of the man-cold, right? How any minor illness escalates to epic deathbed, nursemaid-needing status when the inflicted happens be a full-fledged adult with a Y chromosome? G is actually quite a trooper, trudging along and doing his duty. But here we get the man-crankiness. Wherein an (admittedly trying) pile-up of minor annoyances turns into...the end of the freaking world as we know it. Woke up late, toddler having a tantrum, pants need ironing...cue the exaggerated sighing, cursing, snapping (at wife, children, dog), proclamations of doom and flinging about of items.

The thing is, I'm trying to be all calm and zen and happy-go-lucky and he's killing my buzz. Its really really hard to maintain my serenity (or even my sanity) in the face of such unbridled pessimism and negativity. I try to cajole him out of it, or completely ignore it, but the fact is, negative energy just seems so much stronger than positive energy...because in the end, the bad mood wins. No matter how energized and motivated I was when I walked in the door after my run, by the time we left the house for work 45 minutes later, I was kind of bummed.I vented to a friend at work (while having an extra cup of coffee and a delicious breakfast), who's been married 20 years and totally gets it. And now I'm blogging about it. I feel much better already!

I think this falls into the "you can only change yourself" category, because I seriously suspect that G wouldn't take too kindly to me telling him to "not be in such a bad mood". I suppose the best thing is to acknowledge  (briefly) how awful and annoying his morning was and let him vent a bit, but then go about my day. Maybe I'll test that out next time we have the cranks (hopefully far in the future!!!)