cut the drama, queen!

OK, so I have been told I am a bit of a drama queen at times. And OMG! I'm so not. However, just in case there might be a teensy bit of maybe in there, I am willing to consider it. So I've done a drama evaluation of my life and come up with the following:

• I may have some shopping cart rage
• I get sucked into other people's drama ALL THE TIME
• When I have been on the phone with customer service and they apologize 85 times, I become, well, let's say, unaccepting of any more I'm so sorries.
• Don't mess with my kids. Let's leave it at that.

So, now that I have found evidence that there actually is a slight bit of truth in the accusation that I am a drama queen, I am going to show how un-dramatic I can be in solving this.

First, at the check out, I have been experimenting with letting the other person go first in a shopping cart face off. I like the feeling that I decide they will go first. I am still in control, so it's working so far.

Second, ALL the other people and their dramatic lives. Seriously. This is a doozie. I think my real problem here is I just care too much. OK, not really, but I do think I take in other people's troubles as if they were my own. Shocking, coming from a social worker, I know. So, I am trying to be sympathetic, but no too involved in all the issues my friends and coworkers seem to have on an ongoing basis.

Third, the customer service thing is when my inner b*&ch really comes out. I am trying to write the customer service people's names down while I talk to them and focus on the fact that they didn't personally try to screw me, it was their company. And also focus on the fact that their job has to suck when they deal with people like me. I'm getting so much better.

Lastly, I get very defensive when people criticize my kids. I mean they might be little deviants but they are my deviants. Whatever they do, they probably learned from Mommy so that crap always feels like it is aimed right at me. But lately I am trying to be more of a team player parent. So with that in mind, maybe the little buggers actually learned some of this stuff from DADDY. I might be onto something there; I'll just redirect my rage. Problem solved.