Don’t you wish Mama could just take a time out? A time out that is as long as you are old. I feel like I would be a whole new person, able to recharge and continue my day. I once read an article where a mom said that she takes a time out when the kids are misbehaving instead of putting her kids in time out. I loved that idea; it gave her time to regroup and get it together before losing it on the kids, and it took mom out of the situation where the kids didn’t have an audience.
My daughter sometimes has a rough night while getting ready for bed. It’s usually when she is over tired and had a lot of stimulation during the day. Sometimes my husband and I will stay in her room and battle her. We tend to bounce off her bad mood and return our frustrations back on her. It is a ripple effect and things always turn out worse than when it started. Finally, one day I told my husband that we will take a time out when she starts to spiral. We told our daughter that we are going to walk away and take a time out and return when she was ready to listen. At that point we stepped out of the room and closed the door. We grabbed the monitor and watched her to make sure she was safe as she had her melt down. As parents we were able to just ignore that melt down and not get so worked up and frustrated at her as we did when we stayed in the room. Our daughter had her moment of crying but soon realized she no longer had an audience and stopped. Once she calmed down, we walked back in and asked if she was ready to listen, and she said yes. Our timeout worked!
I know every kid is so different during hard times and each time is so different, but this method has seemed to help, at least for now. Remember we all need that mental break to be the best parents we can be and finding that break at the right moments can be a huge help in those tough moments!
