Stressed out?

Parker: "Dad, are you stressed?"

Me: "No, why?"

Parker: "You're going to get stressed! There's gum in the carpet."

Am I that predictable? I told him, "Parker, I don't get stressed anymore." I calmly got down on the floor and examined the situation. Gum quite ingrained in the carpet. "Someone go get me the scissors," I calmly intoned. As I coolly cut as little as possible of the carpet out, I explained to the gaggle of kids surrounding me, "Never do this. Only mom or dad can cut something out of the carpet." As I was going through this stress-free exercise, Jesi reaches down and grabs the gum beween her thumb and forefinger. Me, (slightly less calmly), "Jesi, no." By this time she had squeezed the gum, so when she complied with my directive, the gum, which had been in a nice, cuttable ball, stretched out into one of those thin strings. It broke off, leaving some residue on Jesi's finger, which she quickly proceeded to wipe off-on the carpet:) I grit my teeth, forced a smile and said, "See, I don't get stressed anymore!"

Happy Sunday:)

Jeremy