One of the things that surprised me most about motherhood was the anger that came along with it; I’d never seen my lack of patience or shortness of temper evidenced so clearly before. It didn’t start right away, but after my 2nd child was born, I quickly learned how sleepless nights and caring for a baby who was rarely content AND an active toddler could make my anger boil over like a forgotten pot on a hot stove: furiously. I’ll never forget the day I realized I had an issue: I had buckled my 3-year-old into his car seat while my infant screamed and screamed in hers (she hated the car seat!). Then, my 3-year-old started screaming in reaction to his sister’s screaming. Already exhausted and frazzled, it was all I could take.
“SHUT UP!”
I screamed it so loud it hurt my throat. Then I burst into tears. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry!” I babbled to my son as his sister continued to scream.
It was not my best day in parenting.
Back then, I would have LOVED to hear about this system for keeping your mom anger in check. It’s the hack of all hacks, from blogger Kelly Holmes of The (Reformed) Idealist Mom, and it’s a genius game-changer. Since she wrote about it, other parents and bloggers are responding in DROVES about how it worked for them, and the results are overwhelmingly positive. And the best part? You probably already HAVE what you need for this hack: five hair ties.
