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QUESTION:
"I feel like the worst mom right now. My son demanded dinner and wanted to eat on the couch where he had built a pillow fort. I told him to fix the pillows so we could sit down together and instead he started screaming, crying and throwing the pillows on the floor. I knew he was tired and so was I. He wouldn't stop screaming. I couldn't hold my anger anymore and threw his plastic plate, that I held in my hands already, on the floor. He stared at me in disbelief and kept on crying. I was out of my mind and yelled at him. I haven't snapped like that before and I went in the kitchen right after and started crying. Afterwards we both quietly sat in the kitchen and ate together."
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TOP ANSWERS (AS SELECTED BY MODERATOR):
The following top answers have been selected by a moderator from hundreds of responses to the original question.
"Just take a breather. Being overwhelmed & stressed is just a part of motherhood & it’s good you realized your actions. Tomorrow I would sit down with him and apologize…let him know you’re sorry & you’re sorry if you scared him. You were just tired & you know your actions weren’t okay so you want to apologize. It’s tough when your child is tired, & adding your own tiredness on top of that doesn’t help. Taking you time as a mom is essential, I know it’s hard when you’re used to having them at your hip but even just going to get a pedicure or go to the store by yourself can really help. Take care xx"
"It happens. As parents we ARE allowed to lose our shit once in a while. We are human."
"I think all of us have felt like that at one point. Dont beat yourself up, tomorrow is a new day xx"
"It’s going to happen. Please note I’m only 2.5 years into this motherhood thing lol. I know from my experiences as a child and what I’m trying to do with my daughter, these moments happen. It’s important when it settles to apologize for the outburst, not for what you were requesting. Maybe explain what you were requesting and why you feel it’s important. But definitely stand your ground. Of course this is easier said from the outside. But you didn’t hurt him physically, and it is going to happen from time to time. As long as it’s not all the time and I fee like addressing it is Important. Good teaching tool on how to handle big feelings too. Again. I’m not very experienced this is just my opinion LOL."
"Live, learn, and talk about it. Children learn to accept responsibility for their actions by what their parents show them. Talk about how what u did was wrong but what got u to that point. There will be days harder than others but the good days will make it all worth it. Single parenting means double the stress and responsibility but also double the love and cuddles. Good luck"
"We’ve all been there. Just apologize and move on. You’ll both be okay. We all get overwhelmed some times."
"Don’t be upset with yourself, there are a million things we deal with on a daily basis and it takes a toll. We all have a breaking point and if you didn’t feel bad about it then there would be a problem. You’re doing a great job, keep going!"
"Dont be upset with yourself. Just apologize and move on. Adults have feelings too."
"Do not feel bad for this. I am the same way, I very rarely have to raise my voice at my son but when I do it’s a blow out. I think his quietness was because he hurt his mommy’s feelings and he didn’t like doing that. Explain to him calmly why it upset you, why you dropped the plate, and let him know it hurt your feelings."
"Set down and talk to your son, let him know how overwhelmed you were and that its not ok to act the way that you did nor is it ok to act the way that he did and apologize."
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