Quite frankly, one of the biggest complaints I hear from my women friends is that they feel underappreciate, overburdened and ignored. How many times do we have to repeat ourselves to get the point across?

"If I've told you once I've told you a hundred times! I am NOT going to tell you again! PICK UP YOUR DIRTY LAUNDRY OFF THE BATHROOM FLOOR!"

That was 10 years ago for me. I was at my whits end with a young daughter who just didn't get the message. It seemed like all I did was fuss at her, but it didn't do any good. Then one day I came across a picture of the ugliest old nag of a horse I'd ever seen. Her teeth were protruding, her back swayed and she had that worn out frazzled look.... the same look I'd seen in the mirror that morning.

I started crying. No one enjoys feeling like a broken down old nag. Worse than that is the feeling that everyone around you sees you as an old nag instead of the beautiful and majestic creature God created you to be.

Then it dawned on me that just maybe the problem was me! Maybe I'd been playing the role of a nag so long that everyone around me was beginning to think that's who I really was! So here's what I did.... honest to goodness! I cut out that old picture of the nag and hung it on my fridge. It was there to remind me every day - THAT was the end product of nagging.

Now let me interrupt to say this.... There's no stopping a woman scorned! lol I made up my mind then and there that the people I loved WOULD look up to me and respect me. I would be an Arabian beauty - her neck arched and head held high with tail and mane flowing gracefully in the breeze.

And let me tell you it worked!

Instead of screaming and fuming after I'd looked at the same pair of dirty undies on the bathroom floor, I regally pulled back my shoulders, lifted my chin, arched an eye-brow and looked at the culprit with expectancy in my eyes. I graciously asked once and just once that the offending laundry be removed from my sight. The second reminder was a swat on the posterior. And do you know what I found out?

*When you act like royalty you get respected as royalty.

*Kids are quick learners. If they know you're only going to ask once, they'll do what you ask the first time around.

*The whole world is more pleasant and at peace when there's not a fuming nag on the loose!

*You don't even have to demand things be done. You can politely ask a child to do a chore and expect compliance. They enjoy the respect too.

*I enjoyed looking in the mirror most mornings :)

That was 10 years ago...
I lost my picture of the old nag. If you've got one laying around somewhere, PLEASE send it to me. I know I've told my son 239 times today to pick his laundry up off the bathroom floor.

Alas, some lessons have to be relearned!