Snit:  We women know the word so well – “state of agitation, fit of temper, getting your panty hose in a wad.” Here in the South it’s known as a hissy fit and I love to watch someone ELSE in the middle of one.

I’m the queen of all snitters, but I don’t wear panty hose any longer so I have to wad up something else.  I’ve been known to throw a plate of cornbread against the wall to let off snit steam.  You rarely hear it in connection with men, but baby, I assure you I can cause a man to exhibit snitty behavior with a withering look.

Now that I’m all grown up, I’m looking for ideas for nipping my snits in the bud before I embarrass myself and end up having to apologize to someone.

This morning I was skimming through my new book “The Gifts of Imperfection” by Dr. Brene Brown and discovered how it can be done.

Whenever I work myself up into a good snit, I try to stop for a minute, take a deep breath, choose a new response and look for the humor usually buried within such situations. .  When I burned the pumpkins seeds I was roasting this morning, rather than shouting an obscenity or slamming the oven door so hard it falls off its hinges, I remind myself I have five more pumpkins on the front porch just waiting to have their seeds harvested .

Many of us can mobilize resistence to common problems such as traffic jams and long lines at the supermarket.  The dirty tricks department of the mind can trigger a snit which won’t do you a bit of good and could push your blood pressure into the danger zone.

Instead, just change your mind and realize whatever is bugging you is just a bump in the road and won’t even be remembered a month from now…unless you give in and throw a hissy hit in the middle of the store which will never be forgotten.