Mom Tantrums

5

May 25, 2013 by CJ

It’s been awhile, I admit.  No better way to get back into your own blog then just jumping in it, right?  I’d like to explain why I haven’t been blogging, but first I need to tell you about something that rears its ugly head around my home every now and then – Mom Tantrum.

What is a Mom Tantrum?  It really is just a breakdown.  I think it can happen to anyone.  Anyone who is the main caregiver, house cleaner, driver, cook…you name it, that person who seems to accept all the stuff thrown his or her way.  Since these chores typically fall on a mom’s lap and I am a mom, I call it a mom tantrum.  You probably have experienced it before.  You were either the one having the tantrum or the receiver of the volcano spewing ash that erupted from someone you love.

I work a full-time job, leaving work early so I can be home when the school bus arrives.  Get the kids a snack, homework started.  Then back out the door to a practice, lesson, game or concert (2 kids each playing a sport and an instrument leaves maybe one day a week we don’t have somewhere to go).  Once we return home I have to make or finish dinner, help with more homework and at some point log back onto my work laptop and finish up my day.  Typically, my husband helps during these weeks.  But unlike years in the past, his slow period didn’t come (this is a good thing when you are self-employed).  He was working night and day for the family, so how can I complain?  I know there are parents out there who do this kind of thing day in and day out.  All alone, with no help.  I stand in awe of them, I’m not one of those people.

While sorting the laundry I found a pair of jeans with stuff in the pockets, receipts or something.  I don’t know.  I just saw that and then I went into a blind rage (I tell my family every week to empty their pockets).  I had my meltdown.  I let it all out.  I was feeling overworked, under appreciated and I was tired.  But I didn’t scream about those things.  Instead I went off about how no one cares about me or my feelings because they refuse to empty their pockets (makes perfect sense, right)!  Like a child’s tantrum, what I was vocalizing wasn’t really the problem.  It was just the thing that pushed me over the edge.  Now when I think back on my children’s tantrum days, many times they just needed a nap or some one on one time to be held and heard.  I needed some of that too.

After my burning lava had some time to cool, I was able to have a conversation with my husband.  It took a while for him to wade through my tears and anger and figure out what was actually happening.  I’m so thankful for our years together, that he knows me so well, well enough to understand what I was needing.  It was then, when he came up with a way to help me.  He said he would cook 2-3 meals during the weekend, and freeze them.  I can pull them out in the morning and heat up when I get home from work.  This way we can reduce the fast food nights (which increased because I was too tired to cook some nights) and super late night meals.  That really did help quite a bit.  One last thing I had to worry about each day.  I didn’t realize how much I stressed out about nightly meals.

Preparing nightly meals ahead of time…why didn’t we think of this years ago??  Because of that I found myself actually searching the internet for slow cooker recipes and things that I could cook or put together ahead of time, and freeze.  Then I started using my pinterest page ( I signed up for Pinterest over a year ago and never really understood what I was supposed to do with it), now I finally got it.  I created a board called Freezer Meals and slowly began pinning the tons of ideas out there.

So what have I been up to during this past hiatus from blogging?  Running kids all over town and pinning on Pinterest.  Yup, I have turned into one of those people.  The good news is that my obsession has waned a bit, hence me actually writing and not looking over boards.

• Have you ever had a “MOM” tantrum?  How did you or were you able to resolve it?
• Do you use Pinterest?  What for?
• Obsessed about anything fun online (my newest obsession are subscription boxes…I’ll get into that another time)?

Related articles

• Tantrums – Are they just for toddlers? (blogs.calgaryherald.com)
• Mums can throw tantrums too (happyellaafter.com)