Most of the time being the glue that holds the family together is empowering and rewarding. As the mom, it feels good to know that without you, there is a good chance that the house would be condemned, the EPA called in, and the children taken to the Dept. of Children’s Services. Steering the family ship and caring for all the passengers is an honor and a blessing, and I wouldn’t trade it for the world. But some days, that kind of pressure is enough to make you crack. Some days I don’t want to be the glue. I want everyone to take care of themselves, their things, and each other. I want to just be alone with my thoughts and feel the way I want to feel without worrying about how it will affect the family.

The last few days I’ve been in one of those moods where I’m easily annoyed at everything. You know the mood, right? I’m tired, I have a headache, the kids are acting like they’re possessed by the Devil, and I’m thinking of all that needs to be done: house cleaned, about 8 loads of laundry done, bedroom closets reorganized, paperwork to go through, food shopping, hair coloring, exercise, etc. -- not to mention the daily (make that hourly) reminders from the kids that the Christmas decorations need to be put up. I’m also discouraged that Thanksgiving -- and the days before and after -- has put a major kink in my weight loss efforts.

Truth be told, this last thing is probably the underlying reason that all the other things are annoying me so much. Because, as I’ve discovered, if we moms are feeling bad about ourselves for whatever reason, then everything else seems to go to crap. Let’s face it: If the momma ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy.

The bright side is that the opposite also holds true. If we are well-rested, feeling healthy and good in our clothes, and the house is relatively straightened -- everything else just seems to come together beautifully. I LOVE those days.

It’s a lot of pressure on us moms, isn’t it? Our mood dictates the mood of the entire family. Not only does everyone look to us for meals, entertainment, support, encouragement, sympathy, help, direction -- they look to us to set the emotional tone. So, to answer the question, “Can’t a mom have a cranky day?” - the answer is yes, but not without fallout. Because when you’re cranky, your husband and kids will likely respond with crankiness, and you’ll have to deal with all their crankiness on top of your own crankiness while still having to meet everyone’s needs. Hardly seems worth it. Along with no personal days or sick days, there are no free fussy days for a mom.

We are just that important to our families. We are the glue, Like It or Not. The last few days for me have been “Not.” And after reading my draft of this, I wasn’t feeling too proud, so I decided to end my pity party. Somehow seeing it in writing gave me the motivation I needed to change things up.

So, I decided to crank up the Christmas music, assemble the tree with my 4-year-old, take him outside to play soccer (made sure to run around a lot so I could count it as exercise), and when my husband got home, I did something highly unusual for me: I sent HIM out to the grocery store (of course with one of the demon spawn in tow). And I have to say…I feel much better and back to my usual “Like It”