What I learned from having a bad attitude

After years of talking about and wanting to get chickens, we finally did it. About 10 days ago we bought chicks that had been hatched just a day before. They were as cute as you can imagine, little chirping fuzz balls bouncing around in the brooder box we made from an old storage bin. 

It has been a joy to watch my son’s little 4-year-old hands with dimpled knuckles gently cup and hold each tiny bird. And without asking her, my 8-year-old took on the responsibilities of keeping the food and water containers clean and full. The kids love visiting them several times a day, knowing that chicks are like dogs and cats that can grow bonds with their people.

I was so happy we got chicks.

But the chicks do what they do. They poop. We have a dozen chicks so multiply the tiny turds by a dozen. I’ve practically touched every stool type from the Bristol stool chart – hard, pebbly, long, squishy, runny, yellow, brown, yellow-ish brown, sticky, and extra sticky. Then there’s the smell. Finally, place them in a tiny bathroom that needs to stay a toasty 90-95 degrees. I’m trying to set the scene for you here. Caca is being cooked, OK? 

My honeymoon period was over. I had taken on the responsibility of doing the bathroom clean-out every couple of days, which involved cleaning out the entire brooding box full of shavings and poops, among other chores that also involved their feces. I don’t need to explain the gross. You get it.

When it was bathroom clean up day, everyone in my house knew it. I bitched about it. They also knew when it wasn’t bathroom cleanup day because I complained about it then too. When my friends visited, I relished in a new audience to share my pain.

The last time I cleaned the chick room, my daughter helped me and it was awful. But it wasn’t because of the task we took on. The stinkiest thing in that room was my attitude. I grunted. I screamed. I was Telenovela level. We finished the job, disgusted. I feared the day after next when I’d have to do it again. In fact, I let the chicks wallow in their waste for an extra day because I dreaded it so much.

And then I remembered my son last week. One of his household responsibilities is to put away the dishes from the dishwasher. He was also a scene out of a soap, à la Susan Lucci, slamming the spoons into the drawer. I was righteous in all my wisdom, telling him that the task is harder with complaints. “It’s easier if you just do it with a better attitude,” I said. 

Damn, the dookie hit me in the dome when I realized it.* I’m simply all talk.

Sometimes when my husband and I are drowning in life’s responsibilities, we worry that we didn’t do enough for our kids, spend enough play time with them, read more books, play legos. I was resentful that these chicks were taking “quality” time away from my kids. 

However, cleaning up crap may be one of the most important moments with my kids. The next time, my daughter and I agreed we didn’t have to do the job with a smile but we weren’t going to do it with a frown. Once we changed our mindset, we were a well-oiled machine and got it done more swiftly and smoothly. We even came up with new processes to make the job more efficient, like having better trash bins and lifting the food and water containers above the floor to better avoid them pooping where they eat. 

This is another example of my kids reminding me that I have much to learn, so I put the shit attitude in the trash.**

I’ll leave you with a quote that my sister says she tries to remember in her own life and I have been trying to remember, too.

“When a person has a reaction to something in their environment, there's a 90-second chemical process that happens; any remaining emotional response is just the person choosing to stay in that emotional loop.” - Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor

What will I do after 90 seconds of smelling baked poop? Ask me tomorrow.

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*Yes, in fact, I do enjoy the chance to make all the doodoo references.

**Last time, I swear!