Infectious Attitudes

From Morguefile

Elie has been sneezing...as only a 9-year-old can - in all the yuck that that might imply to you... Five years ago I took Rachel for allergy tests and we've taken her a couple other times too - to no avail.  We're not going to subject Elie to the same thing, I don't think...  What comes out of her nose, though, LOOKS pretty nasty and infectious and, well, I don't want to deal with it.  I just hand her a tissue and say, "Blow."  Gone (mostly) are the days where I have to actually do any nose wiping...

But the germs spread anyway, you know?  Rachel was gone all weekend with a sinus infection.  Home now, I figure it's just a matter of time before Lori or I get sick, with both kids' noses flowing nastiness...

But that same kind of thing happens in other ways at the Beatty house.  Lori was anxious about something the other day and so she was edgy and a bit short.  Instead of being understanding and supportive, I adopted an "I can be shorter and grouchier than you" attitude.  We resolved it pretty quickly and bloodlessly - this time.

But it got me thinking about how quickly my bad attitude infects my family...  If I'm angry about something - everybody is affected - everybody's next couple hours can be ruined. It seems like if I get mad about something, then suddenly everybody's mad about everything - which just makes things worse for me, 'cause I know it's my fault... And it's not like I consciously DO anything to "spread the anger" or whatever.  But it happens - fast...

Joy can spread just as quickly in our house - but not from me, nine times out of ten.  Joy comes from everybody else...  Usually, from the girls.  They really can make the sun shine on a rainy day, if you know what I mean...  But light can spread just as quickly as darkness in our house.  Because attitudes are contagious...