Cranky mommy

I've been so moody lately, and before you ask, no- I'm not pregnant! I can go from being in the world's greatest mood to grumpier than anything in a matter of seconds, to tearing up at a stupid commercial on tv within minutes later. While I'm not entirely sure what's going on, I have a few ideas.

Technically, I guess I am still post-partum, since I think that period lasts until your baby turns one. So while I guess you could say my hormones are still balancing out, I don't think that's it (since I tend to start cycling again at 2-3 months post-partum, I've had quite awhile to even out again).

Could it be my moody 2.5-year-old? Possibly. She and I feed off each other, and tend to mimic each other's moods. For some reason, she has reason to be moody also, and when she's cranky I'm usually cranky soon after. Sometimes when I'm on top of things, I can get myself into a great mood (fake it till it's real) and then she might follow my mood, but it's no guarantee. Beth's moods have been so wild lately, little things set her off and I have a hard time anticipating what's coming next. I think one day I'll keep the camera in my pocket and try to document each mood, it would be really interesting for me to see if there's some sort of pattern!

If my house is clean, I'm usually in a better mood. When I say clean, I mean little things that just seem impossible to get done- and empty sink, no laundry to be folded, and my bar area cleared off completely. I can handle toys scattered on the floor- that's easily picked up. But why is it impossible to keep the sink empty? And why is there always laundry to be folded?

I've considered doing something like Flylady or Motivated Moms. But I can usually keep the house clean on my own schedule- even if I'm not dusting the blinds once a week, they usually get done before it's too gross. I never needed help before, but maybe now that I've got two kiddos who are both wholly dependent on me, it would be a good time to consider some planning help! The one thing I can never stay on top of is our master bathroom. Please, if you ever come to my house, stay OUT of my master bathroom. You might get bitten by a bat or something. ;-)

I think another reason I might be grumpy is my constant battle with my prayer life. When I feel like I have one aspect of life under control, another aspect struggles. My prayer life is always struggling- and when I say struggling, I mean I cannot meet the goals and expectations I set for myself. Even now, here I am blogging about what's wrong with me when I could be using this time for meditative prayer.

I am constantly trying to be a better person- to not raise my voice(ever, is my goal), to not snap at my family, to always think the best of people and give them the benefit of the doubt (harder than you think!) and to keep my mouth shut when I feel like saying something catty or rude. Maybe I'm bottling things up and need a better outlet to release frustration and tension, maybe that's what's wrong.

My question for my readers- and I know you're out there, I've had 321 unique visitors since August 1- is how do you cope with stress? How do you refrain from letting your children's sour moods bring you down? How do you get past being a cranky mommy- so that you can fully, whole-heartedly enjoy every moment in your day?