Run for Cover

    

My middle daughter is struggling. She is uncomfortable because of the perinidal cyst she has and she is crabby because her course load at school is so heavy. The combination of these things has turned her into Negative Nellie. I told her this morning that just because she is miserable does not mean everyone else has to be too. She reminds me of Godzilla, she walks in the room stomps around griping and complaining and pretty much crushes everyone else's good mood right out of them.

 Well today is the last day for this horse hockey! I am tired of everyone running for cover when they see her coming. It feels a little like we are being abused. Her anger and hostility has grown to the point that there is no way to even negotiate with her. Everything is horrible, stupid, ugly, dumb, and annoying. She is obviously miserable.

 Here is the hard part. It reminds me so much of me when I was her age that I cannot seem to be impartial. I sometimes look at her and I feel like I am looking right into a mirror of my old self. I want to share with her the things I have learned over the years, but I know she would not be receptive to it. She will have to learn from her own life experience. Can our family wait that long? That is the question. The other question is, am I the best person to handle this? She needs someone impartial and willing to walk her through this difficult time. I have a hard time dealing with this negativity, because I know what her life is like and I know it is not a bad life, but I am the last person she wants to hear that from, and I am the last person that will be able to convince her that everything is not as bad as it seems. I am the Mom, and at this point in her life I not going to be the one with the answers.

 It is time to call in a professional that can talk her off her ledge. The growing anxiety we all have when she gets in her moods is not good for any of us. When she starts in on her Negative Nellie campaign, we all run for cover. We are all tired of being stomped on and we have lost the ability to be caring and understanding. I sometimes feel like saying to her, you think you have it bad? I have a daughter that gripes about everything and stomps around like Godzilla; I think I am the one who has it bad! This approach would probably work against us, so a professional seems like the wiser choice. The best way we can show her we love her and care that she is struggling is to call in a recruit, so that is what I am going to do. Someone with a big net and a tranquilizer gun might be necessary though. My Negative Nellie is not going to go down without a fight.