Tuesday, April 28, 2009

The crazed look.....

We have all been there.  Right before nap time, kids really cranky, everyone poking or punching or grabbing or whining.  Then it happens.  Just one more thing that in a normal time would make you laugh, but at this particular time, shoves you over the edge.  Your older child pinches the baby or the baby reaches up and pulls the older one's hair.  Whatever, you are just at the end of your rope.  Chances are you freak out, start yelling and scare everyone into submission.  Then you put everyone down for a nap and close yourself into your room and cry like a baby.  

We have all had that crazy look in our eye, the, "it's gonna blow" look.  Your husband, if he is a smart man, has learned the look and knows when to hide in the basement.  Even the dog knows when to go to the kennel.  

We as moms tend to beat ourselves up when we freak out.  We feel guilty for yelling, maybe the spanking, whatever.  The fact of the matter is, we are entitled to freak the heck out.  We do what no one in their right minds will do.  We catch barf, we pick up the toy five hundred times a day, we change one poopy diaper after another.  Who does this kind of thing in any other circumstance?  Do you see your husband's secretary dropping a pencil five hundred times a day, and your hubby picking it up, time after time, with the secretary giggling and laughing and doing it again.  Does the waitress at the fancy steak restaurant pick up a spoon off the floor for you nine hundred times??  I think not.  

I do highly recommend locking yourself in the closet if you are beyond your boiling point.  Not that a spank on the bottom killed any kid.  We should never touch our child in anger.  I always said that I hug my kids more that I spank them.  I am sure you do to.  Yelling can damage only if you are yelling horrible words.  "Go to your room" are not a horrible words, it will save you.  Never degrade your child, never say, "you are a bad child". Bad behavior is no reason to humiliate your child.  Save that for showing your son's baby pictures to his girlfriend in college, then they can handle it.

I guess what I am saying is, every mom has freak outs.  We all reach our boiling point.  What we do with that is what defines us as moms.  Yelling and sending everyone to their rooms will give you a very calm place to regenerate yourself.  A closet is also a great place to hide and calm yourself down.  My head has popped off and  spun around more than once.  I send everyone to their room and calm the heck down.  Tyler, when he was three, would just turn back around and come out and look at me like, "what are you going to do now?"  I solved this by switching the lock to the outside, there by locking him in his room.  This saved his little strong willed life.

Where are you at today.  Hopefully your day is starting out happy and wonderful.  Keep the closet in mind if you need it.  Have a great day, and if your head pops off, go to the closet.

God bless you and yours.

1 comment:

Baby Z's Mom said...

It's too late for the closet this morning. Two tired and frustrated ladies do not make for a pleasant morning. Gabriela will screetch when she is at her point & I just screetch right back at her, way to be the adult. It works for us though, we get it out of our systems, apologize to each other, hug & kiss and all is well with the world until the next meltdown.