Our “complaint free world” bracelets came in the mail yesterday. You know,
those purple bands for around your wrist, that you are supposed to switch to
the other arm every time you complaint, gossip or criticize. I suggest we add “general
whining” to the mix.
The challenge is to wear the band around the same
wrist for 21 days (meaning you have not uttered a single negative word for 3
whole weeks!). Apparently it takes 21 days to break any habit. And that’s all that
complaining is… a nasty habit.
I open the envelop. Ten purple bands fall out. I put one
on. “Djeez… they look so cheap and flimsy”, I say to my husband. He rolls his
eyes at me. My first switch!
Excited to prove that I can do this (and determined to teach my kids to stop whining to be as positive as they can) I call my family to the table. “Hey guys, come here, I want to show you something”. No response. “Come on guys… look at this”.
My seven year old daughter (whining):
“Now? …but we wanna see American Idols! In a sec!”.
Me (highly irritated that
they don’t share my excitement over some pieces of purple plastic): “In a sec? In
a sec? Now! Why does everything always have to be in a sec?”.
My husband just gives me the look. I switch again. I don’t even have this damn band
for 2 minutes.
The kids come, only semi-interested and with one eye still on the TV. I read
the “rules” to the family. Unexcited, they put their band on.
“Can we finish
the show now?”
“Yes” I sigh disappointed. I wonder if a sigh is a passive-aggressive way of complaining. Should I switch again?
We continue watching American Idol. Comments follows from our little home
jury on the sofa. “That’s an ugly dress.” “He can’t sing!” “That dude has no
stage presence.” “Simon is so mean”. We fervently switch our bracelets from the
left wrist to the right, and back. When did we get so critical?
My daughter is starting to take it a little too serious. She feels like she is failing the test,
so she decides we are starting this ‘game’ tomorrow. “Tonight doesn’t count”.
I suspect my teenage stepson is just wearing the bracelet to please me. I doubt
if he will actually abide by the ‘rules’ while trying to keep his cool in high
school during the day. Isn’t ‘complaining’ kinda mandatory behavior? You’re supposed to nitpick at your teachers, cry about your homework and think your parents are dorky (with the exception of the uber cool stepmom, of course!). But who knows? I like to think my boy is different. I can’t wait to ask him how today went.
I believe my husband is wearing his band for the same reason as Evan is. Not out of
commitment to the cause, but merely to just shut me up about it already. I might be wrong, but I just don’t see him acknowledging his
negative thoughts during the day. As a matter of fact, he says he doesn't even have any.He probably is just wearing the band on the same wrist all day long, forgetting about it, until he comes home, at which point the purple band mainly serves as his ticket to point out MY whining. (ehmm… I think I need to switch again).
And my daughter? Most likely she lost the damn thing at the playground already. It is way too big for her and it bothered her
(I made her switch the band for that comment!).
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