Code Donald

I have a little temper.

I dislike this temper, I don't like it when she comes around.

She usually comes out of nowhere, and I always regret her arrival.

She tends to show up after tripping over a pile of sharp plastic policemen or after stepping in a puddle of something that shouldn't have been there.

She is my arch enemy, my evil nemesis, and I wish she would just stay away.

But as every mom knows, some days, the poo just happens, the temper flares and mommy turns out to being the one who needs a time out.

I do my best to make light of the situation, I may have made a mistake, you know, throwing that cereal box at the wall, but heck, we all might as well learn from it, right?

Since Mickey Mouse is numero uno in this household, I chose the Disney route.

I started comparing my temper to Donald Duck's. Every time he would come on the screen squawking up a storm I would say "Hmmmm, who does that remind you of?" And without hesitation, the boys would chime in "You, Mommy!" Nice. I mean, I'd intended for it to take a few times before they truly made the comparison, but right away? Wow, I must be worse than I thought.

I tried to explain to them that Mommy doesn't like to lose her temper, and when she does lose it, she just looks silly, like Donald does. I told them I needed their help, I needed them to let me know when I was starting to go off to the deep end. I didn't really give them specific instructions on exactly how to let me know, I simply indicated that I wanted their help.

Surprisingly,it actually worked! Whenever the volume of my voice gets louder in anger, or I raise my arm to launch something in disgust you'll hear, "Donald Duck, Mommy! Donald Duck!!!!!" being shouted from all corners of the house (sometimes a 'be nice' is thrown in for good measure). I guess you could call it a 'Code Donald'.

Usually the reminder is so frantic and amusing in nature that we can't help but laugh. Whatever I was angry about starts to slip away, apologies are said, and we can start to ease back into actually enjoying each others company.

I'm not proud of my temper at all, in fact I can't stand it. But I can acknowledge it, and try to make the best of the situation. Hopefully, we're all learning something from this.You know, something more than how far a cheerio box can fly without sprouting wings.