Commiserates

It’s been full-blown hormonal fluctuation week here at the Farmer Gal household.

Come on ladies… You know what I’m talkin’ ‘bout… At the ominous sound of your footsteps, the children scatter and take refuge under beds and tables; the dog tinkles a little as he scampers out of sight. And the husband, in this situation, oh, the husband… The poor, poor husband. He doesn’t stand a chance. He is… the brunt bearer.

What is it about this mysterious hormonal cycle that seems to grip us women with such fierce emotional fluctuation and distress?

I know not. And if you try to give me a medical description of estrogen and hormone receptors and ovulation I’ll punch your lights out. This is beyond science, baby.

I do, however, know enough to recognize when it is happening to me (that’s right, I’ll admit it, I get moody sometimes… crabby, even… irritable) and know that it isn’t really me… It’s just the hormones.

Or is it me?

Or is it the hormones?

Or could it be me?

Or is it both: a slightly altered version of me while in the throws of a little extra estrogen and progesterone surge?

I don’t know. All I can tell ya’ is that it throws me for a loop.

I like to think I do a pretty good job of keeping myself contained. It’s just that time of month when there are lots of things I think, but don’t allow myself to say. Even though Mr. Blue Eyes would probably know it’s just the hormones talking, I try not to subject him to it if I can help myself. Sure, there may some truth to what I’m feeling, but when I’m all hopped up on hormones, you can never be too careful.

Today I drew some comfort in the parallels in Marigold’s and my situations.

You remember Marigold, right? My niece. One of the girls. Went to OK together to see the Pioneer Woman. Doesn’t really like the nickname ‘Marigold’.

She and I and her sister can always relate to each other quite well. We grew up together, have a lot of the same values and quirks, laugh and cry at the same things and have always shared the same sense of humor. Now we all have husbands and our lives uneasily rest somewhere between ‘rolling stones’ and ‘settling down’. We all have 2.2 children. (We actually have two children each, but the .2 represents that possible third child that is always on the horizon… The one that none of us are quite ready to have, but someday inevitably will. The one that will temporarily smooth out these hormonal fluctuations that I speak of.)

Anyhow, Marigold and I spent the better part of an hour commiserating about the daily stresses of life, marriage and child-rearing, and the complex relationships we have with our husbands who – though dashing, hard-working, loyal and generally wonderful – turn out to not actually be perfect.

We hashed out the respective marital battles we each had recently had… Hers was something to do with throwing out a bottle of vinegar and mine involved coordinating work schedules. (You know, both potentially explosive discussions.)

We realized that we did not, in fact, fear for the fates of our marriages, and I mentioned how it was good to talk about it so that we could both feel like we weren’t crazy, hormone and/or stress ravaged housewives.

Or at least if we were crazy, we were in it together.

We laughed.

Then we went on to discuss the wee babes and potty training, which led Marigold to mention that she gave her little girls chocolate chips as treats when they were potty training, which reminded me that I had some Ghirardelli 60% cacao chocolate chips lurking in my cupboard, which prompted me to immediately get up and devour about fifteen of them.

I'm thinking fifteen was good, but twenty-five may be better.

It also prompted me to share my 'New Favorite' Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe with you over on the Home Cooking page. I think you'll find them quite satisfying, and let's face it: at this point nobody has any interest in Christmas cookie recipes. That ship has sailed. 

I'm off to see if twenty-five chocolate chips actually are better than fifteen. I'd come back and let you know the results, but I think we all know the answer already.



Comments

[Tauna]

Two posts in one day???????????? Wow, those hormones are doing a number on you for sure. If they cause you to blog more then it's OK.
Also, there is nothing that a little chocolate won't cure.

[Farmer Gal]

Tauna - Well, you're a nurse, so I'll have to believe you on that!