This must be what happens when you eat pickles early in pregnancy...

...it manifests itself in the ninth month as a sour attitude.

I cannot believe how many meltdowns I've had in the past few days. How emotional I've become...over the dishes needing to be done, or the need to vacuum the floor again.

I've gotta get out of my house. But when I do, I realize that I have to take a walk and so I sit down, because I no longer can walk. I waddle. Rocking back and forth from side to side, like the ship from the movie "White Squall."

I keep telling myself to take a deep breath,that I am modeling for my children how they are supposed to respond in stressful situations. Lately they've learned that you sit down on the bath tub ledge and cry and say, "Why must I repeat myself over and over again...just pick up the crayons off the floor."

Suffice to say, my kids are getting great lesons in forgiveness and I'm doing my share of apologizing for erratic and unacceptable behaviour.

My oldest, SuperGirl, comes up and says, "Mom are you ok?"

"No," I reply. "I'm not. My emotions are trying to tell me how to behave."

"Well, that's silly," she says.

And wiping away my tears, I say, "Yep. It is."

I blame the pickles.