Today I had a tough day at work. It was one of those days where I came home and wanted to relax, but my eldest pushed my buttons so far that an accident pushed me over the edge.
Today my daughter tried to paint her nails and managed to put gold nail polish all over her feet and the floor. Today my daughter coloured on the couch with a pen that had the fish from Finding Nemo on it. Today my daughter spilt her milk on the floor. Yes, colouring on the couch was partly my fault for leaving a pen in her playroom and she did get put in the corner for it. Yes, the nail polish all over the floor was partly my fault for not locking the drawer in my bathroom. But today was one of those days that once the spilt milk happened I started yelling. I yelled at her in a way I shouldn’t have. Luckily my husband was around to defuse the situation.
After 20 minutes of alone time in my room I realized I just yelled at her because she had an accident. I lost my cool and then I started to cry. I told my daughter I was sorry and she said “I love you mommy,” which made me cry more. Then I remember the quote:
“it is not what happens to you that is important, it is how you react to it that matters.”
Today I reacted wrong, but that is what parenting is about. You make mistakes and you learn from them. I should not have gotten angry, but I should have explained it to her why was bad for colouring on the couch. I should have realized she was just trying to be like me when she put nail polish on her toes.
I immediately started scouring the Internet looking for ways of how I should have done things differently. What I noticed was have to learn to respond rather than react. This is something I will try to improve on.
Some days losing my cool and reacting will be my first urge, but when those days happen I just have to take a moment, breath and remember to respond.
The Everyday 30 Something 