P-A-T-I-E-N-C-E

Little Darwin. He's such a good puppy dog. I've written before that Johnny and I are convinced that the words, "And he never complained" will be carved across the front of his gravestone when he leaves us for doggy heaven. He's just so tolerant. Most recently, he's been particularly tolerant of his 2-year old sister's antics. She pushes and pulls, teases and tortures - not anything life threatening to that pug-nosed little guy, but just typical behavior for a 2-year old to display toward her beloved pup. Oh, she loves Darwin...and cries out, "Good bye, Darwin"every single time we pull out of the driveway. But, alas, she's two. And so she likes to get his goat.

Apparently, she enjoys getting her mother's goat, too, or at least pushing my buttons, even the ones I didn't know I had. In the last few weeks, I've had to take a step back, calm myself, count to 20 (as we've told Deirdre to do when she, herself, gets a little frustrated), and remind myself that Miss Deirdre is, in fact, two. And no matter how grown-up, smart, or sophisticated she might seem, she's still allowed to act like a two-year-old from time to time. (It helps that she's the most adorable 2-year old on the block - so it's not all bad!)

During the times when I've had to take a step back to avoid blowing my top - here's a little acronym I came up with. I even went through a recent spell where Bernadette was taking FOREVER to fall asleep - and this little chant came in VERY handy. Killing two birds with one acronym...how convenient.

So should you swing by the house during one of my more trying moments - here's what you might catch me reciting:

P - Pacify yourself

A - Anger management

T - Take a break

I - Illuminate your mind (i.e. saying to yourself, "This crisis isn't taking even 5 minutes of this entire day. How big of a deal can it really be.")

E - Emotions in check

N - Nice and slow (to avoid saying or doing anything I would regret...)

C - Chant kind words (or said acronym...)

E - Educate yourself (why am I so mad? why am I so impatient? Could the situation have been prevented?)

Feel free to try it out yourself - and let me know if it works for you!