My pre-schooler woke up on the WRONG side of the bed and rather than just grouching his way to the shower as I would do, he chose to scream through breakfast then refused to get dressed. He was smiling by the time he got to daycare, thanks to a little extra time and a lot of cajoling. But as a result, I was late to work and without my lunch. The madness picked up after work right where it had left off, but now his little brother joined in on the whining. I think my husband was never so happy to go mow the lawn.
Next time maybe I'll remember this little bit of advice from Zen Habits: When you're about to say something, ask yourself "How does this help my child?" The idea is to re-focus on what's most important and remember that getting angry rarely helps.
If teenagers could only experience an evening like I just had, we would have no more teen pregnancies. In fact, they might decide not to have kids ever. Now that mine are snoozing in their beds, I'm awfully glad I didn't miss out.
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