My Happy Hat

This past weekend, in an act of desperation, I "invented" the "Happy Hat."  We'd spent most of the weekend under the bad influence of heat and hormones.  We were like a pack of rabid hyenas, snapping at each other.  I wanted out of the wilderness.  I'd been joking about making a silly hat/helmet several days before.  A crazy image of a nerdy helmet, covered with tin foil and a whip antenna popped back into my brain.  Ah, I'll make mine invisible so as not to disturb strangers,  but I'll pop it on my head to deflect negative energy.  I shared my new creation with my family who by now is quite used to my zany ideas.

I commanded them to put on their own "Happy Hats."  They were not to talk to each other unless they were wearing their hat.  I then began to chant,  "I'm wearing my Happy Hat.  I am wearing my Happy Hat."  This worked for about 30 minutes.  Which is actually a lot longer than some of my less successful ideas.  I was the first one to take off my "Happy Hat"and jump up and down on it until it was a pile of junk.

I'm not entirely sure what lit my fuse but I went up like a firecracker.  I got really angry about being interrupted mid-sentence. Can you imagine?  How many times a day are we all interrupted by our children?  Maybe I was feeling especially fearful that if I didn't finish my sentence right then and there, I would forget it.  (Don't laugh, that really happens to me all the time.)  In a smoking pile of smoldering ash, I told my daughter to stop being so "b" plus "itchy."

I'm aware of the irony here.  Someone was"b" plus "itchy" and it wasn't my daughter.  My poor husband looks at me and says,  "Don't you think you were a little harsh?"  He was right but his words were a bit like lighter fluid on a dying fire.  Let's not go there.   After some sputtering and a wee bit of stomping, I realized I'd better get a grip. I put the cork in my evil word waterfall and paced around picking up stuff around the house, trying to get the flames to die out.  (Yes, I know that I've got water and fire metaphors together but I was a conflicted mess.)  When the last whisp of smoke was gone, I apologized to my daughter and immediately started constructing a new "Happy Hat."  I'm determined to make this one "stomp proof."  Maybe this one shouldn't be invisible.  Maybe I should wear it any time I feel myself sliding into a ball of negative energy.  It can be my monument to the folly of anger and a tribute to a sense of humor in the service of love.  Or I can just look really stupid to punish myself.  Even I think this ideas is more than a little bit crazy which is exactly why I'm going to give it some Just 10 thought.  Carry on.  Carol has left the building.