In moments of anger, I yell "Guh!"

I happened upon a quote on parenting today and it summed up how I was feeling at that particular moment.


It kills you to see them grow up.  But I guess it would kill you quicker if they didn't.  ~Barbara Kingsolver, Animal Dreams


Ain't that the truth.  In the past few days, there have been a few episodes with my delightful children that have made me want to bang my head against a wall.   I won't go into details (to protect the "innocent", or rather the "incorrigible") but suffice it to say that it has taken all of my composure, all of my waning patience, all of my "they're only kids" perspective (I don't have much of that) to hold it together and not package them up and ship them off to my parents.

Actually, I'm sure my parents wouldn't mind.

Mmmm, they might mind after spending a few weeks with them.

Sometimes I find it tremendously, utterly, completely and wholly impossible to maintain any sense of parental calm.  Yes, I raise my voice.  Yes, I scold.  Yes, I say things like "why the heck would you do something like that?!"   I know from reading parenting books that I should absolutely not say that.  But I do once in a while.  I can't help it.  

Parenting is a challenging job.  It's also the most rewarding job.  But in those moments of anger and exasperation, it doesn't feel rewarding one bit.  And I know I need to do better in those moments.  And when I'm feeling really badly, I put on my red boots and watch out - The Red Coffee is in the house.  (to understand what I'm talkin' about, check out the meme from a short time ago - it's my Superhero name.)

And I wonder if my mom just gave me this (very cool retro holographic moon landing postcard from way back) because she thinks my kids belong on the moon?  Or maybe I just need to wear protective (space-like) gear to shield me from their galactic-level insanity?

Alright, I didn't really have anywhere else to post that photo and I wanted to share it with you because it's pretty funky.  And totally unrelated to this post.  Isn't it cool, though?  It's that old-style hologram effect that makes it look sort of 3-D.

OK, back to the topic at hand, my question to you all is how do you manage your stress level when you come upon some unfortunate mishap your child has caused?   When you're already at the end of your rope, and something utterly frustrating is thrust upon you by one of your beloved children, how do you stay cool and collected?  Count to ten?  Give yourself a time out?  Please share your most useful calming tip.