First step - acknowledgement

Uh... yes... uh hi... Um... (deep breath) My name is Agnes-May and I am a

a.)  yarn and fabric snob

b.)  an angry grumpy mom

c.)  an iron-the-cuff-while-grinding-your-teeth type

d.)  rhetorical question asker

e.)  an Ikea catalog addict.

I would add a chocoholic but I have resigned myself to this being a lifelong affliction with no known cure. 

As with any x-step program, the first step is admitting that you have a problem.  So these are my problems.

a.), c.) and e.) are pretty self-explanatory, right?  With the ironing thing, there has been some progress.  I used to be an iron-the-cuff-and-shoulder-while-grinding-your-teeth type of person, but I've seen the benefit in ironing the shoulders of my Dear Husband's shirts (it makes his shoulders look more manly... rawr..) so they are no longer an issue.  Now, I just miss the cuff altogether and save myself the dental bills.

As for b.) - angry grumpy mom and d.) - a rhetorical question asker... well let me tell you about those.  Better yet, here's the latest example...

Little Miss M and I are leaving the playcenter in which I had suffered a couple of germ-driven anxiety attacks, so I'm not starting at "happy" as we head out to the car.  And this is how the scenario unfolds...

"Mom, I want my milk bottle.  Can I please have my milk bottle?"  

(And how do I reward her beautiful manners?  Horrible mom, terrible mom!)

"Darling, my hands are full at the moment.  Can you please wait until we get to the car?"

"No, Mom.  I can't wait."

Silence from mom.

"Mom, I don't want to wait.  I want my milk bottle now."

Silence from mom, save for the grinding of teeth.

"Mom.. I want my milk bottle NOW.  I. DON'T. WANT. TO. WAIT!"

SNA-AP.  "Well, you'll have to wait."

And bring on problem b.)

"Can't you see my hands are full?!?"  "It's not that far to the car."  "You'll just have to learn to wait." Blah, blah, blah, etc, etc, etc.

Can you see where the problem is?  That's right - why are my hands full?

You need at least one hand and some teeth to rip open a chocolate bar packet.  If my hands are too full that I can't reach for a milk bottle, then my hands are too full to be able to reach for a chocolate bar.

No wonder I'm a grumpy angry mom.

As for d.) - the rhetorical question asking thing...

Yes, I suppose asking "Can't you see my hands are full?" didn't add any value to my rant or the situation.  But, in the end, it's really a harmless habit... don't you think?

Well, Summer's here.  Bring on the strawberries!!  Strawberry and Almond crumble thanks to Ms Nigella Lawson.  A dollop of cream, the sun on your face - heaven in a bowl.

Enjoy!

Edited to add : ok - Summer's not here yet.  But I'm one of those people that tend to ignore Spring and head straight for Summer.  I think it's a Sun thing.