Take the day off from complaining on Tuesday (09/18/06)

I took a day off yesterday. I went to work as always, then delivered newspapers as my husband, the usual paperboy - excuse me paper person - was out of town for the day.

I know, you're thinking, "She just said she took the day off, then she said she worked all day. What on earth is she talking about?" Even though I was at work I took the day off from whining, complaining and fretting about things beyond my control. I did my job to the best of my ability and let it go at that. If mistakes were made I corrected them as best I could and went on instead of dwelling on them. Some things were corrected several times.

On the paper route I took the day off from hurrying to get the newspapers delivered on time and lo and behold I finished before the six o'clock deadline anyway. I think everybody who was supposed to get a paper got one and if they didn't then I probably left it at their neighbor's house and they should check there. At any rate, I took the day off from worrying about it.

Then when I got back home I took the day off from housework and let everything sit and gather dust. I did not clean or pick up and put anything away. I did not do the dishes. I did not run the sweeper. I did give Gracie, the cat, way more treats than she deserved and even opened the catnip container and left it on the floor so she could get as stoned as she wanted. It was my way of giving her the day off also.

I took the day off from good nutrition. Usually when my husband is out of town I cook lots of vegetables, fish and other highly odoriferous stuff. Not last night. Instead of my usual fare, I had a glass of milk, a slice of cheese and a couple of handfuls of chocolate chips for supper. I figured that covered two of the four food groups - dairy and chocolate.

I left the foxtails and other "wildflowers" in the garden even though it was perfect weather for being outside piddling around. There is still plenty of time left to weed, plant and rearrange the flora that threatens to smother our house. I even left the last of the tomatoes in the garden. It's getting hazardous to pick them as they look perfect and then when I wrap my hand around them I discover that the far side is completely squishy and rotten.

Instead of doing anything I should do, I started a new project to go on the wall of grand-baby Emma's room. Never mind that Emma's mom can't bear to be away from her all night and Emma still sleeps in a bed in her parent's room. It gives me pleasure to make things for her.

Speaking of that, my daughter told me she wants matching crocheted ponchos for her and Emma. After all it took to crochet the baby blanket I'm not sure that my co-worker will show me how to make ponchos. It can't be that hard. It's just a square with a hole in it. And the blanket turned out great. Emma likes to stick her toes through the openings in the crochet so I must have done something right.

It was absolutely delicious to take the day off yesterday. I woke up this morning looking forward to the day. I don't get that feeling very often any more. Maybe I should give myself a break more often instead of seeing all the things that need to be done; should be done; have to be done.

It seems that many of us feel that we are supposed to be perfect mothers, grandmothers, wives, homemakers and still be perfect at work. Once in awhile we need to give ourselves a break. We need to abandon all the rules we have set for ourselves and leave the dishes in the sink and do something just for ourselves. Our health won't suffer from a meal of chocolate chips as long as we eat healthy most of the time. The dust police never visit and if they do just hand them a dust cloth. If more of us took a day off from complaining about things out of our control the world would be a more pleasant place.

Let's declare tomorrow to be "No Complaining Day," and see how it goes.[[In-content Ad]]