I am losing my stay at home Mom mind....

[Randomthoughts]

What do you do when you get so mad at your kids that your head spins and you see stars! I just feel some days like I have lost my mind!

Today DD4 put my eyebrow wax all over her hands. No it wasn’t hot anymore and yes I should have immediately put it away but I just had t scream…

I have no idea how to get it off her hands aside from “waxing” her hands.

I REALLY hate being so angry but I just get so frustrated assuming she should know better!

BTW……..This all happened after DD1 wrote all over the house with crayons and markers!
I am just a horrible Mom!

What are all your techniques and advice for coming down off the crazy Mom angry train!

 

[Debbie6221]

Boy... I know how you feel. Some days are really hard. You just love them to death and want to be with them 24/7 but then the mishaps just send you reeling, right?
Looking forward to others advice!

 

[dcforbreakfast]

Can't really punish the one year old. I think mine was two when he did that with the crayons on the wall. I made him scrub it all off. Took him forever and he nearly cried the whole time, but he NEVER did that again and to this day has not written on anything he's not supposed to.

The four year old, hmmnn....might just have to laugh at that one. It's so hard when you have to tackle two...you're outnumbered. I say take a deep breath...go watch tv for a bit and relax. If you get too worked up you'll just end up doing or saying something you regret.

Maybe you need a day off. Get a sitter!

 

[gottagodisney]

Been there myself many times.

What I do in these situations (after my blowup and then guilt feelings) is, I think of all of the very intense things going on in the world (war, starvation, ect.) which then make my situation almost seem laughable.

I say to myself, "Is this situation irritating, yes! Is it life threatening? Nope." Deal, teach the lesson here, move on. I have to take this approach because I think I have a tendency to be a bit over critical esp. with kids maybe not acting "their age." I grew up in a household where we were always expected to be little adults and kid type mishaps were blown out of proportion by my mom.

I think I have finally learned (have a 12yr, 8 yr old, and one on the way) that kids really will be kids. Darn it!! It is my job to make sure they learn the lesson in each situation at these times. Just remember that no matter what the age it seems, kids will be curious, and what seems like malice to us is just probably pure....I wonder what would happen if I .....? from the kids.

Then you can always take a coffee break and look at the DIS to escape reality for a few. Good luck! I am there with you.

 

[Whosemom]

I think its time for Not all day, and not every day. But right now YOU need a time out. Throw on the kids' favorite movie (will the 1yo watch? Or I guess put her in the playpen, and she won't have much choice) when they are settled, you step right out onto the porh and breathe. Or take a shower. Or call some one who makes you laugh and chat. In a different room.

Then after a bit, drag your 4 yo onto your lap and tell her how much you love her.

And don't call yourself a horrible mom.

 

[Mouse House Mama]

First-

Second- get the duct tape!!!!!!

Seriously- when I feel like that I send everyone to their room for a few minutes. It is best to separate when you feel like playing pinata with the kids.

All of us have our moments. This too shall pass. As for the wax- peanut butter will take it off. Rub it on her hands and it will come off with no pain. It also works for gum in your hair. (Not that I would know anything about that... )

Oh- and magic eraser will get all the crayon and marker off the wall.

Yeah- Martha Stewart's got nothin' on me!!!

 

[weldon1]

I know it doesn't seem funny today but someday you will look back at laugh at today.

 

[PA Princess]

I think as others have said that many of us can so relate to where you are. I have 4 kids and I have mellowed over the years, but man there have been moments. Sometimes misery loves company, so rather than offer advice, I will simply commiserate with a story of my own...

I was 9 months pregnant with baby #4 and it was 2 weeks before Christmas (heck those two things alone are big stressors). I was home with dd age 4 at the time. My older two were at school. DD was watching a TV show and I went to the bathroom (something pregnant moms do often). I had just sat down and I hear dd crying that she can't see, and I can tell from her tone that she is not fooling around and something serious is wrong.

We meet in the hall and she is clawing at her eyes. I immediately start trying to flush them in the bathroom with water while trying to figure out what she put in her eyes.

Here she decided when I left the room she wanted some stickers. She knew I had some in my desk (actually what I had were self adhesive postal stamps, but she knew they were in the desk). She went in my desk and also saw a small tube. She picked up the tube and unscrewed, got something sticky on her fingers and then adsent mindedly brushed at her eyes.

Well, what she found was a tube of super glue dh had used the night before and was in a hurry and threw in the desk rather than put away in the usually out of kid reach place. So my 4 year old had super glued her eyes shut!

Okay, talk about frantic! But I SO did not want to go sit for hours in Emergency 9 months pregnant at Christmas with an hysterical 4 year old!!!!! So I called my ped and hit the emergency button of the phone que.

I said quote, "My 4 year old daughter has super glued her eyes shut."

They were super great at the peds office and within 10 minutes I was on my way to a pediatric opthamalogist who would see us immediately in his office. I had to call dh home to meet my 8 and 9 year olds who would be getting off the bus in 30 minutes (isn't that how the timing always goes...too late to call other moms who have already left to get their kids, did not occur more conveniently during school hours, and I did not want to wait even a minute longer than I had to to have dd seen by a doc).

So dh had to tell his boss he had to go home because his daughter super glued her eyes shut. Life with kids....Anyway, the doc was awesome and handled it all well with dd and there was no permanent damage to any eye part thank goodness.

For info in case you need it, a type of super glue is actually used in eye surgery because it does not harm the eye and natural eye fluid actually prevents super glue from gluing the eye (just won't adhere on the eyeball). So the only thing glued together were her eyelashes (which he gently cut off and she could see). The big concern is the eye being scratched and damaged by hard pieces of the glue being trapped behind the lid...thankfully she had none of that.

One thing I will never forget, when we walked into the eye doc's office he greeted us and said to me, "Don't get excited."

I looked at him like he was insane and very loudly I said, "Don't get excited! Don't get excited! I am 9 months pregnant and my kid super glued her eye shut, I am so far beyond excited!!!!!!!!"

The women at the reception desk (in this big beautiful fancy, schmancy office like something you would see on TV with cathedral ceilings and a stone fireplace, etc) just started rolling with laughter...heck, I am pretty sure the people in the waiting room were laughing also. Not until that very moment could I really see the humor in any of it...later and today we laugh at it, oh do we laugh. I promise, some day you too will laugh...really you will

 

[Erin1700]

Hang in there, you will be fine and you are not a bad mom!
I know how you feel. My DD6 tried to microwave left overs and left the spoon in the dish. She realized it and instead of opening the door, she starts yelling "The house is going to blow up!"
And my DS 6 months old, has just started crawling on all 4's this week. We thought it was cute until he decided to climb the steps! My DH was watching him, and he made it up 7 steps! I am not ready for this!

 

[mumom95]

My DD6 tried to microwave left overs and left the spoon in the dish. She realized it and instead of opening the door, she starts yelling "The house is going to blow up!"

Randomthoughts, your not a bad mom, your just a typical mom (and I won't even say SAHM because I'm sure working moms have these moments also). We had just gotten finished painting our newly finished basement, when my dd (I think she was 2 at the time) wrote all over the walls with a Sharpie. Luckily, we still had plenty of leftover paint to cover it up, but I thought my dh was going to go through the roof. Don't really have any advice, all kids are different, and I don't know your kids so I couldn't begin to tell you the best way to deal with it. But I can let you know that you are not alone, and it sounds like you are a great parent (the fact that you are trying to get help on here shows that). At least you'll have something to remind her about when she calls one day complaining about something her kids did.

 

[tweedlemom]

Just an FYI--Mr. Clean Magic Eraser removes Sharpie marks! My son decorated our bright white bathroom door with a black Sharpie 2 years ago, and it worked great!
I understand the whole "going crazy" thing. 3 weeks ago my kids were playing outside with their water table and little pool and sprinkler. All the water kept making mud puddles on the ground and I felt like every other minute I was yelling, "keep out of the mud!" Then, instead of getting frustrated about it, I just told them, "You know what? Today's mud day! Get as dirty as you want!" Not only did they have a fabulous time, they played nicely for over an hour, in the mud, and I just watched, stress free, as they had the time of their lives! Needless to say, one day a week is now deemed "mud day" and mommy does not have to yell about kids staying clean and the boys get to have an awesome time getting dirty and playing together. Then it all ends with a bubble bath and a book. I just have to let stuff like that go every now and then or I'll go NUTS!

 

[Merriwind]

Hang in there! Tomorrow will be here soon. You've received great advice (and some good laughs--PA Princess and Erin 1700). Pixie dust your way...

 

[tripplanner2]

I joined Jazzercise. Whenever I feel like I am going to lose it I head to the gym for a class. They have babysitting so it gets the kids out of the house, someone else watches them for 1 hour, and you get some major destressing time and an hour for yourself.

 

[Debbie6221]

Just an FYI...I do think those magic erasers are a miracle but I also find that they can scratch your surfaces. They took some of the stain off both my wood table and floor. Anyone else find this to be true?

 

[r4blessings]

About 6 months ago, dd who had just turned three got into my makeup case and spilled all my brand new bare minerals makeup all over the sink and bathroom. I was ready to scream and cry! That stuff is certainly not cheap, and I knew she knew not to do it. I couldn't even talk about it with her, I let DH handlel it when he got home.

Hang in there! There will always be days like this! Just count the hours until bedtime!

 

[K and K's Mommy]

At least once a week, I have all three kids go to separate rooms and have "alone" time. Usually I can feel myself wanting to scream about something they have done, so instead I say, K go read a book, K go play Barbies in your room, and J let's go play just you and Mommy. My 2 year old is to the point where he will play trucks or look at books for a little while by himself, so that is helpful to me.

I've enjoyed the stories, so I'll share one myself. About a month ago, I was given a days notice about my DH birthday party with his family. I knew he really wanted his favorite homemade birthday cake so I thought I could do it. I had three layers cooling on my kitchen island while I am frantically cleaning the rest of my house. I thought DS 2 was asleep. I come down my stairs with laundry and DS 2 is on top of the island with handfuls of cake! I dropped my laundry and said, "BAD, NO, No, NO!" The little guy got real teary eyed and tried to say, "sorry" (too much cake in his mouth though). I immediately felt terrible and picked him off the counter and just hugged him. Luckily, he just ate off the tops of the layers and not one big chunk, so it didn't look too bad!

Best of luck! Before we know it, they'll be grown!

 

[KelsiesMommy]

What are all your techniques and advice for coming down off the crazy Mom angry train!

I don't know, but if you find out PLEASE TELL ME!!!! I can't WAIT for preschool to start in 2 weeks!!!!

 

[tnkr_bell]

Should I tell you about the time my two year old locked me out of the house for TWO HOURS in the middle of winter? LOL That was a lot of fun!!!

Luckily I could see her pretty much the whole time and she just went from running around to watching TV.

Next time something like that happens, you could probably call the 800 number on the box and they can help give you ideas on how to get it off.

I find the best thing to do in these situations is give yourself a time out. Make sure the kids are safe in their rooms and then just go take a breather. It sounds like we've all been there though.

 

[rgribik]

tnk bell: I've been there also....my twins(3 at the time) locked me out of the house in the dead of winter in my jammies, and just laughed and waved to me as I was frantically trying to get one of them to turn the lock. I also locked myself in the bathroom,with the boys outside of the door, while trying to fix the knob they broke(lucky for me I had the phone in case I needed to call my dad for repair help, I needed more than repair help that day ). My sanctuary is the bathroom. Some reading time, wash my face, brush my teeth, and come back out ready to face all of them(5 kids) until that magical time of day----bed time!!!

 

[katielou]

I can feel your pain. When my daughter was about 2 I had put her down for her afternoon nap. About 30min later I poked my head in to make sure she had gone to sleep and low and behold she was on her floor putting an ungodly amount of vasoline in her hair. ( SAMS size) I spent the next 3-4 hours washing her hair. I had to make a paste with laundry detergent and coat her hair with it and let it sit for about 15min and repeat the process. over and over and over Needless to say when my husband got home I said she was his and I went to dinner with a friend and had a couple of margaritas. Good Luck.

Beth