Under Pressure

Yesterday morning I was on the phone with my friend Amy, who is a speech pathologist. She commented that she was anticipating squirrelly kids at school because of the changes in the barometric pressure.

Excuse me, what' s that now? I asked if she was joking.

"It's absolutely true", she informs me. Apparently, barometric pressure changes can affect the behavior of children, and usually for the ornery. This I did not know. "Well, that's interesting and totally something Amy would know," I think to myself as we move on to another conversation.

Later in the day I'm talking with my friend Marci. As she hears Charlotte jabbering ferociously in the background she asks, "So, how have your kids been today? Everyone I've spoken with today says their kids are making them a little crazy." "You know", I say, "I'm in touch with that. Caroline seems to have only one volume today, and it's ear-piercing."

"Oh, it's the pressure changing," she says knowingly. I stop her right there, feeling like the world has been keeping a giant secret from me. I ask if this pressure theory is for real. She assures me it's true. Her mom, a teacher, swears there is a connection. Plus, she has three kids herself, so this isn't her first rodeo.

But, how is it that I have lived with children in my house for over three years and never managed to learn about this? Not that this knowledge would have made any real difference, but still, I like to be informed.

Really, it all makes a lot of sense. Now, I'm just wondering if I can explain my own occasional bad temper with it. What do you think?

"Sorry, everyone. I really want to be delightful today. I'm not trying to be crabby. It's just all this darn barometric pressure."