Zen and the Art of Showering Each Morning

I'm not a morning person AT ALL, but ever since Ellie was born, I've made it a priority to get up early enough to shower before the girls are awake.  I never feel fully awake myself until I've showered.  It seems to make the day go better.  Also, I really enjoy the peace and quiet the shower provides.  I heard someone say once that she got a lot of her praying done in the shower, and since then I've discovered that she was really on to something.  The white noise of the water running, and the steam, and the yummy smells of shampoo and body wash make it a great time to pray and meditate and ponder and organize my mind.

Or at least try to.

This morning, my peace was interrupted by the ear-piercing shrieks of one of my children.  Even through the running water and closed door, I could tell that it was the same phrase, over and over, and I knew she was either yelling for me (even though she knew I was in the shower) or yelling at one of her sisters, neither of which boded well for my morning.

Then another child came into the bathroom, complaining that the yelling sister had whacked her in the face with a pair of pants.

Happy, happy day.

The old me would have lost it.  But, in my shower-induced zen-like frame of mind, I've become a new me.  A me who doesn't lose it quite so often.  A me who realizes (and, yes, it took me this long to realize it) that losing my temper over ridiculous things takes waaaay more energy than just taking a deep breath, counting to ten, and reminding myself that this, too, shall pass.

Because I kept my cool, by the time I got out of the shower everyone was friends again.  The pants-whacker had apologized for the pants-whacking, the pants-whackee had apologized for whatever it was she did to prompt the pants-whacking, and everyone was playing Webkinz and halfway ready for school, which, to be honest, was more ready than I expect anyone to be at 7:15 in the morning.

It's going to be a good day - I can feel it.  And all because I had a shower this morning.