10 Things I Can Do Without

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Don’t get me wrong, life ain’t too shabby. Compared to most of the world’s population, I’m all set. Our problems are relative though to our own lives, though, and sometimes it just helps to get them off our chest. There’s one song by Tears for Fears titled “Shout” and the first few lyrics will serve to introduce my topic today perfectly:

10 Things I Can Do Without

1. Cold Weather – I told my husband I want to move to Florida, but he denied my request. I literally cannot think when I’m cold and it gets worse for me every year. I really think there’s something about the Fibromyalgia and sensitivity to cold. I need to look into that. My brain shuts off, my body shuts down, and I cannot function when it gets cold outside. Someone invent a heat bubble for me to live in? I question whether I will survive winter every year. Brrrr!
2. Sleep, apparently – Just kidding! I need more sleep, but I definitely do not get enough of it. Between one or both of the kids coming in too early in the morning to snuggle with me and my staying up too late (like after 1:00 in the morning most nights) working, I just don’t get the required amount of sleep. I’m trying to make myself turn off regardless of what gets done, but I’m finding that when I do that, things aren’t ready at work and my students go by the wayside. I don’t like it. I guess I care too much or something.
3. Vomit – Why? I mean, really? First of all, I feel completely helpless when my three-year old is throwing up. I can do the sum total of nothing to help him other than clean him up, hug him, and pray he feels better soon. Secondly, GROSS. It’s chunky, putrid, and oozes everywhere. One day, one round of vomit wound up on the couch, which meant I had to make sure it didn’t seep into unknown crevices. *shudder*
4. Noise, Noise, NOISE! I can handle a little noise, but my brain start to rattle when the noise level gets too high. I feel a bit like the Grinch sometimes, but I just need some quiet to get myself settled. 
5. Whining children – I’m pretty patient. I mean, normally I am. I can handle a lot. I prefer the sound of nails on a chalkboard to whining, though. My kids won’t get anything out of me until they speak in a normal voice. Why? Because when mama gets annoyed, she ain’t budging’. That’s the cost. I guess that’s why I don’t hear a lot of whining in my house.
6. Disrespect – I don’t tolerate it and I’m very sensitive to it. At the risk of sounding like an old fogey, I’m going to say too many children “these days” don’t know how to show respect. For example, I had five children show up to class late yesterday and it was not the first time. Rather than apologize for the tardiness and accept responsibility for their actions, they made excuses. They then admitted that they would not do this to another teacher. When I had them write a reflection about this behavior and why the behavior was disrespectful, one chose not to write and another wrote a disrespectful, sarcastic reflection. I’m big on respect. Not just for me, but for ourselves and for others. When people show up late, they not only show disrespect for my rules, but they disrupt the learning of others in the room in addition to missing out on time in class. If they don’t care about their own learning, they should at least be respectful of the rights of their classmates.
7. Traffic – Give me a nice highway with just two or three cars on it any day, and I’m happy. Make me travel on a road with heavy traffic, and I’m a mess. I hate slow drivers, people who cut in front of me, and crazy drivers. You’ll find me yelling at people who really can’t hear me, gripping the steering well, and yelling things like, “Seriously?!” and “The speed limit’s 60, not 45!”
8. Worrying – My son, my kids at school, money, and everything in between. All I can do to bring relief to all the worry is pray, but the respite from worry comes only temporarily. I want to  go without the worry, sleep better at night, and learn to relax.
9. Mean People – I mean, really. It’s sad that some people have a self-esteem so low that they need to bring other people down with them. I wish I could help them see that it can actually give you a boost to make other people feel better. I don’t think there’s been one time where I’ve said something mean to someone and felt great afterward, so I cannot understand people who do it perpetually. It actually makes me feel quite awful.
10. Migraines – I get these blessed events once a month predictably around my cycle and I can honestly say that I look forward to them less than I look forward to the crimson tide. Usually I get 2-3 migraines within that week span that take 1-2 migraine pills per day and that’s all thanks to me taking a migraine preventative every day already. If not for that, I’d have them more often. These migraines can go straight to Hades.

Yes, these are all things I can do without. Perhaps, since I don’t like noise and I don’t want to trigger a migraine, I will not shout about it, but I suppose I’m good with typing it out.

What things can you do without?