Taroo, taroo, ta-rump

There's this song I made up a while ago to sing to the kiddo when I'm trying to nudge her out of a bad mood or away from the border of Meltdownia. I start by singing "Taroo, taroo, ta-rump, is Kiddo a grouchy grump?" and the goal is for her to sing back "Taroo, taroo, ta-rid, Kiddo's a happy kid." Most of the time, if I've gauged her mood properly, this can help her shake it off and cheer up. Sometimes she just wants to sing the "Taroo Song" making up lots of different lines. She'll bust out with a "Taroo, taroo, ta-rungry, I am really hungry" or her #1 favorite "Taroo, taroo, ta-rilly, Mommy is really silly!" Whatever floats her boat. Like I said, I started this one day to fend off the glowering eyebrows I was catching glimpses of in my rearview mirror, and over time, it's taken on a life of its own.

At any rate, today? Taroo, taroo, ta-rump, I am a ridiculously grouchy grump. I've been trying to shake my bad mood since I woke up. (Woke up, mind you, courtesy of the cat, who I thought I could hear gacking up a hairball someplace in the house. At not-quite-four this morning. I went on a hairball hunt to no avail, until just now when I shut off the central air and went to open the windows to let in some fresh air. Jackpot - hairball on the window ledge. Oy.) I don't like to be in a bad mood. I really prefer being a positive and upbeat kinda gal. I have different fixes for Heather's Crotchety McGrump alter ego... I dress in bright colors, I indulge in a piece of chocolate or other caffeine-infusing item, I listen to peppy music, I read the comics, I pet the cat, I goof around with the kiddo, play some Scrabulous, do the daily crossword, read some funny blogs, whatever I can do to shake it.

Today, alas, not so much. The grumps have taken over. Ploo. I know it is partially due to hormones (hello, PMS - sorry if that's TMI to my three (?) male readers...) and partially due to sleeping poorly and then the hairball too-early awakening, and my allergies are also going nuts - my eyes are itching despite being on prescription eyedrops, my nose is running and I'm sneezing my fool head off. I think the best I'm going to be able to shoot for is to be mindful of the fact that I know I'm ill-tempered and crotchety today and try not to take it out on Hubby or the kiddo, and then get to bed as early as I can tonight to sleep it off. I'm definitely scrapping my plan to go on another round of Quest for a Swimsuit '08 this morning, because that is just asking for a major dressing room meltdown. I think I'll just mow the lawn (allowing me to stomp about) and viciously pull some of the weeds that are thriving in every nook and cranny of my planting beds, all while listening to something inspiring on my iPod. Let's see if that does the trick.

*sigh* I do not like days like this. Anyone have a good trick to rid oneself of the mega-blahs?