How Well Do You Hide Your Short Temper When It Comes To Your Kids?

Can you manage to keep yourself in check?

I never realized that I have a temper until I became a mother.

Sure, people bothered me. I’d been in arguments and even a few physical altercations, but even then I never truly lost my shit. Then I had children, and my dormant crazy bitch came bubbling to the surface.

It always catches me off-guard how quickly I go from zero to pissed off over seemingly minor infractions. It’s just that when I am in a state of perpetual exhaustion, small things are actually really big things. I don’t want to get mad at my child for splashing toothpaste water all over the bathroom mirror for the hundredth time after I reminded him repeatedly not to. I want to channel my inner Gandhi and remain calm. The problem is, I literally just finished cleaning up a mess in the other room, I am 12 hours into my day, and a toddler is clinging to my leg. I’m fresh out of calm. Did Gandhi ever have to potty train another human being? I would guess no, which explains his level of Zen.

When I am running late and I find my son washing his hands with a banana or discover that my daughter has stripped herself naked for the 38^th time today and is peeing on her baby dolls, or someone tracks oatmeal all over my freshly mopped floor and it’s too late for coffee, but still too early for wine…I lose it.

I own my crazy, but it’s ugly. Knowing that I’m always running on a short fuse means that I have to cut everyone around me some slack, myself included. Over time, I have developed some coping skills to help me keep my shit together when it feels like I’m about to explode.

You can check out the coping mechanisms this mom's developed on Scary Mommy. When you're finished, don't forget to leave a comment and share one of your own.