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Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Who IS This Murphy Guy Anyway and Why Does He Have a Law?

Apparently he was Captain Edward Murphy and worked as an engineer at Edwards AFB in 1949.

Well Mr. Murphy, this whole law that “anything that can go wrong, will go wrong” didn’t really bother me until I became a mother.  When I was younger I would use the expression all the time without even thinking about it.  Would let things roll off my shoulders and not give it a second thought.  After all, it was just “Murphy’s Law.”  Now I’m singing a different tune.  Because quite frankly now Mr. Murphy, you and your law tick me off! 

Listen, to some degree, I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt.  How could you know that a flippant comment you made about a rocket sled experiment (yes, I did research it) would catch on so quickly and even make it into the dictionary?  I’m sure it fell into the “who knew?” category in your brain.

But for me, now that I’m a mom…this law has the power to totally de-rail my day.  It sets into motion things that I wouldn’t dream of happening.  It ranges from the little things.  The huge traffic backup when I’m on my way to pick up my child, or the scratch on a child’s face the morning before he goes in to get his pictures taken.  Or the night that your kids are starving and the meat you were going to cook for your meal suddenly has gone bad in the 24 hours since you bought it so you go to plan B and order a pizza.  The pizza is delivered, you pay the driver, call the salivating kids to dinner, open the box to discover that it’s the wrong pizza. 

Then there is the extremely annoying.  For example, who would even think that at the exact moment I’m trying to put a baby down for a much needed nap because he didn’t sleep well the night before, a jackhammer would go off right outside the bedroom window?  Or how about the night that one son gets his finger slammed in a door, and another gets an ear infection is the same one night that my husband has to work late when he rarely ever works late?  There’s also the time where I had to get out of the house to run errands only to discover my car battery was dead.  Or how about a fire engine zooming up the street just as I’m walking out of the baby’s room after putting him to sleep?  Or the door to door salesman who is pounding on the front door once again right after I put the baby to sleep? 

Do you see a pattern here?

Yeah, Mr. Murphy my biggest beef with your law is that it interrupts my childrens sleep (among other things), which in turn interrupts what little time I have to get things done around here, or hey…maybe even sleep myself.  It messes with the daily schedule and has the potential to throw everything off course for the day. 

So your little “saying” that you sent out into the universe all those years ago has a ton of power, and no doubt you’ve received a lot of flack from it.  I hope you’ve chosen your words more carefully since then. 

How has Mr. Murphy’s “Law” de-railed your day?



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22 comments:

Joni said...

Sounds like one momma hasn't had enough sleep! You tell him Hopes! I am experiencing the ramifications at my home but with house and yard repairs! Ugh

Hopes@Staying Afloat! said...

Joni,

HA! Is it that obvious? Actually, the baby falls asleep just fine. It just never fails that some extremely loud noise, that is never present when he is awake, will wake him up and that's the end of that. He will be up for the rest of the day.

Alison said...

Oh I so know what you mean. Particularly when it comes to a child's sleep. It's happened enough times for me to swear there's a conspiracy planned against me, thanks to Mr. Murphy.

Shell said...

Oh girl, I so have days where I think it's just Mr. Murphy's world and we're all living in it.

Jessica said...

It seems like everyday I have Mr. Murphy to thank for something. It does not make me happy.

Kristin @ What She Said said...

Ha! I love what Shell said! So true - especially when you have kids. In fact, when kids enter the picture, Murphy's Law becomes THE Law. ;)

Hopes@Staying Afloat! said...

Alison,

It SO should be called Murphy's conspiracy instead of Murphy's Law!!!

Hopes@Staying Afloat! said...

Shell,

I LOVE IT!! But then I think Mr. Murphy should take a vacation for a bit!

Hopes@Staying Afloat! said...

Jessica,

I can totally relate, and for me, the daily aspect of it didn't kick in until I started having kids.

Hopes@Staying Afloat! said...

Kristin,

Thank you so much for stopping by and commenting.

Why is it that Mr. Murphy makes such a grand appearance once you have children? Does he have a sensor or something that can sense the moment you become a mother? Hmmmm

Kate F said...

I too am a NOT a fan of Mr. Murphy! This was too funny :) I shared with others on twitter! I swear I feel like Mr. Murphy is my shadow... LOL.

Hopes@Staying Afloat! said...

Kate,

Thank you for sharing the post! I've yet to muster up the courage to join Twitter, but I'm close! Mr. Murphy is like the villian in a superhero movie!

Unknown said...

Truly how do so many people know exactly when children are going to sleep.

McKenna said...

Oh Mr. Murphy LIVES at my house I think. How do I get rid of him?

Anonymous said...

Murphy always shows up in the form of me dropping things on the floor. It's not just once, I'll have an entire day of dropping crap. At this point, I just cuss loudly and move on.

Hopes@Staying Afloat! said...

JDaniel4's Mom,

Thank you so much for coming by and commenting. It totally baffles the mind how people know the exact time my baby drifts off. I blame Mr. Murphy!

Hope you come and visit again soon!

Hopes@Staying Afloat! said...

Jessica,

Oh if I only knew how to get rid of him, I'd be one happy mommy! He is like a persistant annoying houseguest that just never leaves!

Hopes@Staying Afloat! said...

MamaMash,

Oh my goodness, I'm such the same way. I've dropped a full bowl of the babies breakfast, a full container of salsa, and a large jar of mayonnaise all over the floor all in the same day!! After cleaning all of that up, my floors had never looked so clean! HA!

Bees With Honey said...

Ditto, because I so know what you mean on everything you touched upon. When my kids don't sleep, neither do I and when I don't sleep, the day is not going to be pretty. One grumpy Mom!

Hopes@Staying Afloat! said...

Bees,

Welcome and thank you for commenting!! Being tired always makes me grumpy. What really gets to me is when the baby is so exhausted and still won't sleep. That just sends me to the moon!

Hope you come and visit again soon!

Anonymous said...

I had a long comment about Murphy.

Blogger ate it and I'm naturally too annoyed to rewrite it all.

Suffice it to say, I could've written this post, and in fact, Murphy has guest starred in my blogs frequently. It is why your fridge dies on Friday night of a three day holiday weekend just after you've bought groceries.

The holiday/travel Murphy is the worst when you have children. If it can go wrong, it often does, either in tiny ways that wear you down, or in one giant swoop.

It was so bad one vacation, I had to do a three part post on it: http://danceswithchaos.wordpress.com/2011/01/29/part-1-of-the-murphys-law-of-vacations-a-special-addition-of-what-the-frak-friday/

I found myself smiling and nodding through this entire post, so well it speaks of my life.

Because Murphy must hate sleeping children.

So glad I found you via Write on Edge/TRDC (I'm Writing with Chaos there).

Hopes@Staying Afloat! said...

danceswithchaos,

Don't tell me that Mr. Murphy is messing with Blogger too?? That worthy of a fight right there.

I swear Mr Murphy has it out for mom's. He wasn't in my life this much before having children!

I'm SO glad you found me too!!

Thanks for visiting, commenting, and hating Mr. Murphy just as much as I do!! :o)