How to Stop Losing Your Shit with Your Kids: A Practical Guide to Becoming a Calmer, Happier Parent

by Carla Naumburg

While it is technically your job as a parent to teach your children to keep their hands to themselves, both literally and figuratively, this is not the best tactic for managing your shit. Do you really want to hinge your sanity on the behavior of someone who licks walls and melts down over the shape of a piece of toast? Yeah, I didn’t think so. Fortunately,

First up, we need to get clear on what I mean by losing your shit. Grown-up meltdowns look a little different for each of us. They’re a bit like pornography in that way. No, not like that. Geez. I mean that they can be hard to define, but we know them when we see them.

acronym FART (Feelings, Automatic, Reactive, Toxic).

You’re doing an incredibly hard job, and you’re doing it without the right information, support, resources, and rest.

you’re absolutely running a marathon every day, and you need as many hours of rest and recuperation as you spend parenting. (HAHAHAHA *SOB*)

THIS 😅🫠

K Breathe. I know I’m being a bit naggy about this whole breathing thing, but it really does work. Also, you can’t breathe and scream at the same time, so that’s cool.

K Talk it out, but not too much. Telling your kids what’s about to happen is a great way to diffuse the tension. Try something like, “I’m feeling pretty stressed, and I’m about to snap at you. I need to calm down. You can breathe quietly with me, but if you nag or whine at me, I will probably bite your head off.” (You’re welcome to use my exact words, in which case you may want to explain to your kids that you won’t literally bite their heads off. I made that mistake once and it totally freaked them out.)

omg this. I get so literalb with kiddo because of this lol