Uh-Oh.. I Lost My Cool--Again!

It is only Tuesday and I am already ready for the weekend. Maybe my inability to manage things two days into the week is due to the fact that we had a nice long Thanksgiving break (one filled with great company, delicious food and no school) or maybe it is because it is already DECEMBER 1 and the holidays are literally weeks away. In any case, I lost my cool today (this of course is not the first time).

My stress level started to rise once the kids got home from school. This is a busy week in our household. Two big projects are due on Wednesday as well as a test and paper for my middle schooler. The projects are not ones that a child can do completely alone. They require hot glue guns, table saws and glue sticks (o.k. the glue sticks they can handle). Nonetheless, the kids needed some help thinking through their work.

On top of projects we had doctor's visits (regular check-ups that most parents do yearly but I seem to do every 3-4 years), flu shots (this is the first year my kids have had a flu shot), a trip to the vet (my dog needed her booster shots AND she has fleas), a trip to the dealer to have my car serviced (hello snowballing bill--last call had me at $850) and a dishwasher that won't drain. Again, it is ONLY TUESDAY!!!

Anyway, all of this was wearing on my very last nerve. So when 6 pm rolled around and my 7th grader said "Oh, I do have some math homework," (after spending hours on his project), I blew a gasket. I had one kid stomp off upstairs telling me how mean I am, another quietly practicing his speech in the bathroom mirror, my daughter slinking off to her room to read and my oldest near tears trying to finish his paper. Not my best parenting moment (I've typed these words before).

I realized that I kind of scared everyone with my mommy on the verge of a nervous breakdown moment and quickly made my apologies. I told the kids that this has been a busy week for me and listed all of the things that were on my plate and frustrating me. I told them that sometimes having to be in charge of so much can be difficult and hard and that I need them to be a little more resourceful and responsible--that if we all work together we can get things done more peacefully and quickly.

It seemed to work. My daughter went off to help my 3rd grader practice his speech. My oldest took charge of his paper and actually pulled together a nice piece. And well, my other son held a grudge until 8:30 p.m. 3 out of 4 is not so bad!

*image from ehow.com