I Called My Son Annoying…

I made a mistake this week…

I was in the middle of a major project with a deadline and Wesley kept yearning for my attention.

After a few minutes of tapping on my back, and, “Mommy!” yells in my ear - the pressure built and I lost myself for a second.

“Stop annoying me!” I said to Wesley.

I immediately felt guilty. What a hypocrite… Here I am teaching other moms gentle parenting techniques, and then I flip my lid and lash out.

Plus, when Wesley was born, I promised myself I’d break the cycle and give him a better childhood than what I’d experienced.

So I took a deep breath and apologized to my son. Then I pulled out the feelings chart and showed him the frustrated face. “This is how mommy is feeling,” I said.

I told him how much I loved him and explained that when I feel frustrated, that can lead to me lashing out. I promised to work on it.

Wesley happily hugged me and didn’t seem to be phased by my “stop annoying me” comment at all.

I made a mistake, and I regret the comment - but unfortunately, we don’t always get it perfect as moms.

If you’ve ever become so frustrated that you lashed out at your child, or accidentally said something you normally wouldn’t - congratulations, you’re human.

These imperfect moments are inevitable. They’re going to happen.

The question is, how can we come back from our imperfect moments? How can we use them to become even better parents? How can we turn them into teaching examples for our children?

You got this, mama!

-Caryn