Do you ever have a day where you’re just cranky? You wake up on the wrong side of the bed and now EVERYTHING seems awful and hard. Or the world must be out to get you?
In my family growing up we would call this mood “wearing your grumpy pants.” If you were in a bad mood and either didn’t want to talk (to the many people most likely in my house at any given time) or to alert others of your mood, you would say you’re wearing grumpy pants today. This was a silent message that you’re in a bad mood and you’ll get over it but to leave you alone or give you a break if you say something out of character.
The thing about pants is you can’t wear them forever, so, eventually you have to take off those grumpy pants off. On days I felt I couldn’t, my mom would remind me I was wearing grumpy pants and then tell me I needed to wash them. She even took it a step further and put a hat on my head when I was a teenager and said, here. Now you have a happy hat on so you have to change your attitude.
So check yourself. Yes, sometimes you just have to wear your grumpy pants. It’s part of being human. Just remember, you can’t wear them forever. You have to take them off and put on your happy hat.