Consider this slim offering of encouragement spoken after a parenting pep talk (keep your chin up) or how about this admonition uttered immediately following a rousing competitive board game where only one person can win - and knows it (don't get a chip on your shoulder). Take those moments when one child attempts to project blame onto his sibling by offering a purposefully confusing account of the discipline-worthy act (cut to the chase), please. Depending upon their moment-by-moment behavior, kids are either considered (the apple of my eye) or they're designated (the bane of my existence).

As amusing as these sayings are, the real truth is there often is (a grain of truth) in every one. Take the idiom, (getting up on the wrong side of the bed). Code phrase for issuing the warning, don't get up grumpy and unsocial. While this phrase is commonly given in jest, there are actual physiological reasons for women to wake up "wrong-sided," and none are laughing matters. According to Dr. Alex Strande, M.S., Ph.D., director of Simply Healing Clinic, Irving, CA, women's moods are exacerbated by ever-changing hormones, which are themselves exacerbated by stress (lifestyle and environmental), irregular eating habits, junk food, some pharmaceutical drugs, too much caffeine, too little exercise, inefficient sleep, etc. Strande believes American women are generally estrogen dominant, leaving healthy progesterone levels following a very distant second. Dr. Strande discusses the need for achieving this delicate balance, citing that when either hormone level is "off" health problems occur in increasing regularity. Some of the more recognizable health concerns women face when hormones are not in balance include; depression, mood swings, anxiety, night sweats, irritability, insomnia, fatigue, mental fogginess, and weight gain. Strande tells women to take an overall view of their lives and not simply go looking for a pill to make it all go away (and often only masks the core problems). Women must recognize it is their responsibility to be proactive in all phases of their treatment plan; this entails an intelligent exchange of information with their health care providers, doing necessary homework, and then adopting the steps which will achieve an overall higher quality of life.

Final idiomatic word of advice to spouses, children, and others foolhardy enough to comment on a sleep-deprived woman's early morning attitude, actions, or attire: (Don't try to teach your Grandma to suck eggs.) In other words, "You shouldn't try to teach (or instruct, or censor) anyone who knows a lot more than you do," this includes wives, mothers, grandmothers, aunts, sisters, cousins and any other person with that additional X-chromosome. Do what your mother always taught you, (give them the benefit of the doubt); it may have been a rough (and sleepless) night indeed.

About the Author:
Michele Howe is a book reviewer for Publishers Weekly, FaithfulReader.com, Aspiring Retail and has published over 900 articles/reviews. She works as a manuscript critique editor for the Christian Communicator and writes on women's health issues for the Toledo Free Press, Monroe Journal, CBN.com, SingleMom.com, ParentSuperSite.com, CatholicMom.com, and Radiant among other publications. Howe has also published eight books for women including: Going It Alone: Meeting the Challenges of Being a Single Mom, Prayers for Homeschool Moms, Prayers for New and Expecting Moms, Prayers of Comfort and Strength, Prayers to Nourish a Woman's Heart, Successful Single Moms, and Pilgrim Prayers for Single Mothers.