Gloom, despondency and barking in the Inferiority Complex: how do I manage to be supportive without giving in to the urge to whack DP on the back of the head?

[motherinferior]

To be fair (which I'm not very often) DP has every reason to be gloomy and despondent. In fact, given that he nursed his mother through her terminal illness at the end of last year, he is having a lot of work hassle and he was attacked recently, it would be rather alarming if he wasn't (as no doubt he'd just run amok in a supermarket with an Uzi in a year's time). But it is stressful to live with. Especially the constant barking (mainly at me, only very occasionally at the Inferiorettes); and particularly since despite my occasional impression of a sympathetic person on MN, I am very bad at being a selfless helpmeet in real life. I have made lots of cakes , and try not to shout at him as loudly as I'd like, but any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Yep. DD1 won't touch them, the ingrate.

excellent MI, glad to hear it. The sex malarky does sound faintly tiring maybe that's where I'm going wrong with this TTC business...

Oh well, men always go for muffins over sex I find Glad things are looking up MI.

Quite frankly who wouldn't?! especially if they're blueberry.

so you've given him a good muffin, then?

that's great news.

perhaps you can have some quality family time all practising calligraphy together as a new family hobby?

blueberry muffins, can take or leave them. where's the chocolate or alcohol content in that?

good one blu

If anyone wants to know about callibloodyigraphy, you know where to come. I should add that DP's handwriting is absolutely terrible, so f*ck knows why he found Spiritual Enlightenment in Drawing the Perfect Splodge.

my mum used to do lovely calligraphy - MI you do have your muffins for company if you become a fountain-pen-widow

i've just realised, my mum's done tai chi too...do you think there's a connection????

was wondering about this thread and glad to hear things are looking up

I run a great calligraphy course if he is interested

It was special Foreign Calligraphy of the sort that eventually achieves Enlightenment, apparently.

Or so I seem vaguely to remember.

at special calligraphy!

MI, you should get your dh on here- there are clearly loads of MNers just waiting to bond with him....

I'm glad it went well, and I still think you're a heroine.

I'm lost - whats the link between calligraphy and tai chi? the one time I did Tai Chi I discovered inner peace a hour later in the pub and the last time I did caligraphy I got shouted at for dropping ink on my school uniform. No link there?

Apparently 'they' (who?) spend years learning to draw the perfect line. Then they move on to a circle. Then Splodges. I did ask how long they spend a day, what 'they' do the rest of the time, and so on, but DP hadn't seemed to enquire. His lot accelerated to Splodges in the course of an afternoon. Nearer My God To Thee, I assume.

does that mean toddlers are on a higher plane of enlightenment?

Absolutely meowmix, can't you tell just by watching them at play? :o

Whilst I would never wish Black Moods upon the Inferiority Complex, the spin-off is some of the funniest posts I've ever seen on Mnet.

I say 'Bah' to Pollyfilla. Stop bloody muffin-making and get yourself a column MI.

It would be great, wouldn't it Issymum? Move over India Knight I say....

Missed all of this. Glad happiness is resumed MI.

handwriting expert Rosemary Sassoon swears by calligraphy and our Chinese cousins are obviously The Best. makes them more dextrous so they can be eg excellent knitters (obviously my specialist subject on mastermind) and reduces their risk of developing writers' cramp

I agree, MI is way, way, way better than India 'dodgy opinions' Knight.