The crime-rate at 136 Boston Street has risen at least 12% annually over the last decade. In the last month, it seems as though the children have been in a lying and stealing frenzy. They lie about where they’ve been, they take my stuff, they rummage through my closet, my drawers, my jewelry...they steal money, brushes, nail clippers, tweezers, socks, scissors, tools, tape, my dignity (unannounced bathroom pop-ins)—it’s out of control. As much as it drives me batty, my focus needs to be less on their behavior and more on how I manage my role as Judge Wapner in DePetris Court.

If every problem I have with you is really a problem I have with me, I need to look at my side of the street. The question I ask myself is, Do I make telling the truth difficult for the people in my life? Often. Is my ego getting in the way? Ab-so-lutely.

I can easily fly off the handle if the scissors are missing from the kitchen junk drawer, and mysteriously, no one knows who took them. My ego can feel very threatened in the midsts of someone telling me a lie. So threatened that I completely miss the bigger picture of who and what it is I’m dealing with. I’m going to try to remember that I can make the choice to stay quiet and respond to the situation rather than react to it. Something for me to work on. In the meantime, I think I’ll ask Santa for a safe for Christmas.