I’m Just Going To Leave This Right Here: The Frustrated Edition

Had a long day? We all do at some point. We all have those moments of frustration. Maybe it’s work-related or something at school. It could be something of a personal nature. It could be that someone did something not-so-smart in traffic today that just set you off. Maybe it’s just a small drip of lots of things that build up until you feel you need some sort of release.

I have been there. I have been aggravated when I explain something to someone then they return and I have to explain the same thing to them again. I have been bothered when some one chose to shut me up and not even listen to my reasoning or explanations. I feel overwhelmed when I work hard only to then look up to see I have rarely made a dent in what I have to complete. I get it.

I can tell you when I reach this point I try things to try to get past the level of frustration I feel. I mean if I really let frustration hit it’s peak I might lash out in some way that I might regret later. So, for me, maybe a short break and walk outside will help. Maybe cranking up a favorite song will smooth things out. Comfort food is fattening, and not so great in some ways, but, oh so helpful in other ways.

I know though that what works for me may not work for you. Still, I want to help. I want to be able to be someone you know who can help you get past frustration. Now, I suppose I could lend an ear to you and let you vent, but as the kids say today, “ain’t nobody got time for that”. I mean you need immediate help, and besides, if I have to sit through one more person complaining about whatever, I may just break down in tears. You don’t need that, you need something that will help you get on with things.

This is why I have loaded the picture below for you. It sits on my office door, magnetized to the metal door frame. I place it level to my neck. It sits there ready and waiting if it is ever needed. You have it now. Feel free to capture in a screen shot or download it. Tape it to some hard surface and save it for one of those days when your frustration level seems like it won’t top off.

I’ll just leave this here in case you need it. Mind you I have never really used this as described. The thought of bashing my head against a metal door frame usually makes me realize my frustration level is not worth a headache. You can use it however you wish though. You will have to provide your own Tylenol.

The Not-So Picture-Perfect Photo Album

Photos play such an important part of our lives today. Most of us have a camera on our phones enabling us to pull it out at the drop of a hat to snap a photo. Of course, not every photo is a winner. Some photos suffer from bad framing or an unsteady hand, or, in some cases, from just being a bad subject for photography.

Even though I spent some time as a videographer in my life, I never felt I had the gift of a good eye for video or photos. I tried but I felt I had skills better suited for editing video. I moved on to another vocation in life and never gave my weak eye for framing a shot much thought until recently as I went through my phone to see what pictures had accumulated there.

What I discovered was some photos which will be cherished by family and friends. I found multiples of many photos, some of them good, some not so much. I found photos where someone other than me had my phone then snapped away at whatever they wished. I’ll blame our five-year-old for that. I also found some photos that quite frankly must have been snapped unknowingly. I’ll blame my own clumsy side for those.

As I thumbed through these photos I could not help but chuckle at some of them. Some of them are quirky. Some have odd angles. Some are up to your own interpretation. I also thought how more than likely some of these weird photos would go away once I deleted them. I then thought how in the years to come how often I will have to go through this process, seeking out the keepers and letting go of the others. Maybe, I thought, the keepers will somehow land in a photo album of some kind, all nice and organized. Yeah, probably not. Then I thought I should preserve some of the strange photos. I mean there is a whole industry now dedicated to awkward family photos. Maybe, some of these photos are worth placing together to form some sort of bad photography album. So, here are some of those photos as I present to you The Not-So Picture-Perfect Photo Album.

 

 These are exciting times in our home. Hannah started school this year. We felt it necessary to take a first day of school picture. Really, this was as good as it got this particular morning!

The end of the first day of school was much different!

Have you met our cat, Kayla? She is concerned about personal space, doesn't like to pose for photos and sits on our dining room table when she can get away with doing so.

Hannah is holding a picture of the three of us. The photographer, aka me, occasionally has issues with depth perception.

Sometimes the excitement around our house is unbearable!

We do holidays at our house. Sometimes we do flash photography. Other times not so much.

Vacation this past year was at the beach. We were there. Somewhere.

These dolls belong to Hannah and are named Lucy and Ethel. I know who the foot belongs to but won't mention her name since that foot might end up kicking me in the behind for including this photo.

Girls and their shoes. Sigh.

Since we are on the subject of photographs, don't forget to smile and say "cheese" when your next picture is taken, and remember, cheese comes in all sizes and flavors, even gourmet nacho.

A (Then) Four-Year-Old Questions Why

In an ongoing quest to document the questions a four-year-old asks, I recently noticed this one, one I knew would make this list and one each parent dreads to some extent. I had asked Hannah to do something. She hesitated. She then looked at me and asked that short, but powerful question, “Why?”

Let me dispense with this one quickly as there only seems to be three replies to this question. Depending on how the question is asked the replies can appear in any order or can appear in ascending order as listed here.

Question: “Why?”

Reply #1: “Because.”

Reply meaning: Just do what I asked.

Question: “Why?”

Reply #2: “Because I said so.”

Reply meaning: Just do what I asked or you may get in trouble.

Question: “Why?”

Reply #3: “Because Momma said so.”

Reply meaning: Just do what I asked or you and me will get in trouble.

Of course, providing a more substantive answer to such a question could take volumes of paper and even then would really only scratch the surface. So much of answering any question beginning with why really starts with other words and thoughts that should follow that three letter word. Of course, the possibilities of what those questions could be are endless.

All this means that the question why sometimes requires a complicated and involved answer. Sometimes it requires an answer that can be difficult to verbalize because the answer could be sensitive or embarrassing. Then sometimes, as the great poet and greater American Charlie Daniels once sang, “there’s just some things in this world you can’t explain.”

Hannah, over time, you will ask why when someone hurts you, when someone dies, when you lose a job, when you lose a friend, when you see bad things happen to good people, when you have physical pain that won’t ease, when your car won’t start, when your hair won’t part the way you want it to part and with so many other aspects of life that can frustrate and rattle you from day to day.

Other times though you may ask why someone loves you more than you think you deserve. You may ask why something fascinates you to the point that you have to study it and break it apart just to know how it operates. You will ask why the sky is blue and the flowers so pretty when that someone special is near you.

Know that your mom and I will try to answer the questions you have when you ask. Sometimes, we may give you the old “because” answer. Here, though, is what you should remember when we give you that answer. It is also something to remember when you are curious as you grow older: never stop asking.

If you don’t get an answer right away, keep asking. Know you risk getting an answer you may not want to hear. Also, remember there will be questions you will ask that you will never quite reconcile with your head or your heart. Some questions will have an answer you may never fully accept, some will have an answer that just can’t be fully understood. Those answers will be okay though. Everyone grapples with hard questions and answers. Find a place in your head and in your heart that will know when to let an unanswerable question go, or will know at least when to let it go enough so that it's grip on you won't choke you off from life’s important things. Put those hard questions and answers away. Ponder them from time to time but don’t let them eat you alive. Then keep asking questions. No, you won’t get every question answered but think of all you will know, feel and understand one day all because you asked why.