The Attitude Fairy Strikes Again

If any of you have raised teenagers I think you'll know what I'm talking about when I say that the "Attitude Fairy" has come to visit. It happens all the time, one day you wake up and there it is, sitting on the shoulder of your once sweet, loving child. The fairy sits there mocking you and your child echo's everything the fairy tells him/her.....they all of a sudden know more than you, they don't need your help anymore, and they never want your advice. We've all seen it happen and I've found the best way to deal with such a fairy is to have a sense of humor and just laugh right back in it's little fairy face. After all, laughter is the best medicine to cure oneself of those dreaded fairies.
Let me just give you an example of what I'm talking about. Recently our 16 year old son has had a fairy on his shoulder that just won't go away, even Laura tried to help cheer him up by sending a little pocket book titled "How To Be Totally Miserable, A Self-Hinder Book" by John Bytheway. She heard how amusing the book was and thought it might just help him laugh away that fairy. When he first opened the book he was amused, then after just a few pages he put it down and refused to read any more. I picked it up and read it and couldn't stop laughing because it was so amusing and so offensive to little fairy companions. It put a smile on my face and even made me laugh out loud a few times. I'd like to share with you one of the pages in the book so you'll see how amusing it is........

BE EASILY OFFENDED
Miserable people take offense. If you say something, it offends them. If you don't say something, it offends them. They're mad when someone tries to help, and they're mad when someone doesn't. They're even offended when someone is trying to make amends! They're offended if someone apologizes too late, too quickly, or not enough. (They might even be offended if someone writes a book about being miserable. Uh-oh). The happiest people in the world refuse to be offended by everyone and everything. That's just too much work. They forgive quickly because they know they need forgiveness from others.

Now I want to share with you the conversation I had with my 16 year old just so you could get a good laugh and see just how obnoxious his fairy is......
Me: So how did you like the little book that Laura sent you.
Teen with shoulder fairy: I didn't like it, it offended me.
Me: Really, I thought it was pretty funny and I got a good laugh. Anyway, Laura just sent it because she wanted to cheer you up. I don't think she's even read the book, I believe a friend of hers told her how funny it was and amusing and she thought you might enjoy it.
Teen with shoulder fairy: Really, she never read the book, that offends me even more.

Now here's the part where you laugh out loud, is that not the attitude fairy speaking. Well, he can choose to be offended, I choose to laugh, if feels so much better. So if any of you have attitude fairies at you house, just laugh at them and grab yourselves a little miserable book to read. I know it helped me.