Take a moment.
Life's crazy. There's no denying it and the harder you try to get everything in order and in it's place, the crazier things get. Or at least this is the way it feels in my life. So, what can you do to try to smooth out the frays? I've found over the years that it extremely helpful to take a moment, essentially a time-out for Moms. When one of my kids is having a rough time and is whiny or disobedient, I send them to their rooms for a time-out. At my house, that involves lying in your bed until you've calmed down enough to be reasonable again. The same thing works in my case as well. If the kids are driving me batty or I've just got way more on my plate than is possible to accomplish, I take a moment to myself.
I'll admit, this isn't always easy when your kids are young, but a few tricks I learned when my kids were young could help. Pop in their favorite movie. Most kids have something that they'll watch, unmoving, for a few minutes so you can get yourself back together. Lock yourself in the bathroom. I take a shower, fix my hair, read a magazine sitting in the toilet for a few minutes! Do your grocery shopping after the kids go to bed. I always did my grocery shopping in the evenings while my husband stayed at home with the kids after bed. I got to get my stuff done and enjoy being able to hear my own thoughts for a while.
I'm pretty lucky, my kids are old enough to watch themselves now and if I need a moment I can take one. If I'm trying to read something or just trying to hear my own thoughts I can say, "Mommy loves you, but shoo for a few minutes." It actually works well! I look them in the eye and kiss tops of heads and they realize that I'm not ignoring them, I'm just busy for a minute.
You know the adage, "When Momma's not happy, no one is happy?", then take a moment to make sure Momma is happy. Just a thought! =0)
1 comment:
Mommy time-outs are great!
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