All a matter of perspective!

It's been one of those days where I’ve locked myself into the room after having performed a series of exemplary acts...I’ve rescued my towels from the dustbin (courtesy an absentminded son) saved my lights from being broken by a ball and myself from seeing stars by being socked by it, screamed my lungs out, managed to finish my editing work dead on the line, got dinner on the table and still been alive at the end of it all...

Grrrr...its no fun being a gal in all guy household...I've been brought up with two other gals(my sisters)and life was cool...And then I marry a guy who ironically has only brothers(and three of them!!!)So far so good...minor skirmishes...all forgiven in the bliss of wedded life...

Many years and two boys later...life is a medley...and I’m still finding my way. I am a woman literally in a man’s world. I think I’ve learnt to look at my roles from a different perspective. I wear many mantles and every day is a rollercoaster of emotions. A bird’s eye view …

• They go the kitchen and holler out for me as if the sky is falling down…I rush there only be asked where the sugar tin/cookies are? Huh??????? So am i the organization expert? This where perspective comes into the picture. i just perceive things faster...

• It’s no easy task to decide nutrtious meals for the day, trying to suit three hungry stomachs for there will always be one unhappy soul not liking the preparation. I’m nowhere in the picture of course! I’ll be delighted if the food does vanish without threats, bribes or tantrums. So does that make me a food management expert? a nutritionist or a cook? sigh..don't tell me, it's perspective...

• I trip over Lego pieces and supermen and the ghastly faces they call masks, only to be greeted with war cries of murder. So I have to pacify two angry boys with concocted stories of why I was rushing to the toilet, as if my life depended on it. That strikes too close to home and I’ve convinced them it was worth trampling upon their toys. Lo! Behold! I’m a crisis management expert.

• Cricket and football are the bane of my life and one day I may just sue the creator of the games. On second thoughts, I may be lynched by the cricket crazy fans before i even think of doing that, so it is time for subtle tactics. I’ve also noticed it’s a brilliant time to ask for something which you’ve wanted because the hubby is so engrossed he‘s going to nod whatever you say or do, even if you were to say you’re umm..test driving his precious car!!! So trust me to recognize an opportunity and turn it to my advantage!

• It needs great skills to involve every member of the house into tasks they don’t enjoy, without them realizing that they are doing it. It requires the right blend of firmness, nonchalance and voice power. Of course when nothing goes, an incentive works fine, just fine. That makes me a human resource management expert or a plain nag. see, again a matter of perception!

• Saying the right things at the right time, without hurting anybody’s feelings gets my diplomacy skills to the fore. How else will you answer the plaintive complaint “You love him more than me. You hate me”? He gets to hear how much more I would have loved him if I hated him, so that he wouldn’t feel hated. Got it, no? Neither did I? But surprisingly it made sense to him. Confuse the issues so that he does not realize whether he had a good thing or he missed one! That’s a diplomat at work.

not to mention the tactics employed to maintain bonding between one belligerent adult, a rebellious preteen and a hyperactive 5 yr-old... well, whom am i kidding!

But the icing on the cake is, after all the screaming, ranting and raving done, I still get the ‘You’re cool/you're beautiful' badge at the end of the day. So every day is my second chance to get it right and get that badge, (assuming of course that i want it everyday).... It is the best incentive I get to carry on for yet another day of an imperfect mother and an almost perfect wife!!!

Ah well, it IS after all, a matter of the right perspective… mine!!

For the record…no feelings were hurt in the posting of this thought, except mine!!

P.s...gals, please feel free to add to the roles above...I'm sure you agree, i've just scraped the iceberg...

P.p.s..It also appears that my boys are the smart ones, having figured out how to manipulate me emotionally!...sigh
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this just fit in very well with the writer's island prompts...