Instant Replay

Do you ever have days that you'd like to do over?  You know the kind, a day in which nothing goes right, the littlest things get on your nerves.  Most of my yesterday was like that.  Since there are no real do overs in life,  I've decided to do a little instant replaying during my daily Just 10 of some of yesterday's low spots, just like the sports' guys do.

I had two problem areas that really affected my overall game performance yesterday:

1.) I discovered I'm allergic to pineapple.

2.) My children have been terrible at not following through.

First, number one. I was convinced that I was not allergic to anything.  The "mighty"  (you can insert the foolish here if you want) has fallen.  My head knew you can develop an allergy at any time in life.  I just didn't believe it would happen to me.  Boy! was I wrong.  No, there were no hunky paramedics and a ride in an ambulance but after eating nice bowl full of fresh pineapple at lunch, it wasn't long and my throat got really scratchy, I started to cough.  My upper lip started to swell slightly.  I wanted to scratch my eyes, nose and mouth right off my face.   I took some generic Benadryl which eased the symptoms slightly and went about my day, hoping to forget about it.   The itching subsided with several hours but the gastrointestinal aftermath has still not disappeared entirely and was rude enough to wake me several times last night.  A little online research this morning gave me some answers and hopefully knocked a bit of sense into me as well.

(Please don't do this at home.  Allergic reactions can be life threatening.  I was too cavalier about my reaction and was really lucky.  This past school year, I watched a student have an allergic reaction.  Things started to go bad very quickly.  Paramedics were on the scene in time and several weeks later, I ran into a very fortunate and grateful student who  filled me in on the details of what happened once at the hospital.  The student had an allergic reaction to something most people would never suspect to be a danger.  Allergies can develop suddenly.   The first reaction is often less intense than the reaction may be in a subsequent exposure.  The body has time to recognize the "enemy" and can really revolt against it when you are exposed the next time.   If you have an allergic reaction, check with your doctor immediately.   Don't do what I did.)
 
When I apply the instant reply to my fumble of yesterday, it's pretty clear what I'd do if I could do it again.  I would call my doctor's office.    They'd probably have told me to go straight to the ER.  My poor performance in the field has left me shaking my head.  Next time, I will perform better.  Remember,the game ain't over 'til it's over.  Even the pros can learn from their mistakes.

The second "agony of defeat" from yesterday feels like parenting failure.  It's time to drop kick that thinking and develop a new strategy so I'm better prepared for the next team crisis.  The problem is a simple one.  My lovely children are acting like children.  They would rather play and do their own thing that follow through with their chores and responsibilities.   Doesn't sound too different from what I really want to do which is probably why it really "kicks me in the keester."  Lately, I'm a broken record of nag.  "Did you brush your teeth?  Did you pick up your stuff?  Did you put that away?  Did you take out the dog? They don't pick up their end of the work and our game suffers.  I forget we're on the same team and we develop an adversarial relationship. We end up losing the game. 

Now to apply a little mental instant replay and examine my moves with an eye toward improvement.   Micromanaging my youngest team members puts too much stress on me.  We're going to use the consequence program.  If you fail to pick up the slack and do your part for the team, then you're going to be spending time on the bench.  In other words, the fun stuff will wait until you do the work stuff. 

These two team members are also failing to take care of their gear.  Time for a bit of tough love.  Gear not retrieved and stowed appropriately is going to go in "gear jail."  I hope I can find a big enough locker.

Now that I've applied instant replay to analyze the "footage" with an eye toward improvement, yesterday doesn't seem nearly as bad.   I plan on using the instant replay technique again.   Tomorrow is another day.