Day Sixty - Seven or Mommy Needs a Time Out Pt. 2

So thanks to everyone who stopped by and let me know that I wasn't the worst mom in the world.

Had a better day -- not perfection pie but way better than yesterday. There was only one time-out necessary and it was reserved for the two year-old. I maintained a reasonable decibel level and that voice that erupts from the third ring of hell never once crossed my lips. In my world, that definitely represents growth.

My mother would probably like me to interject here that she did not laugh at all. It turns out that there is a long history to the Mommy time-out. My mom told me a story of a monumental tantrum I threw when I was about my daughter's age. She said that I threw myself on the floor, kicking and screaming hysterically. Shocked, she immediately retrieved the child-care bible of the time -- Dr. Spock. (As a child, I thought that my mother was making choices based on the advice of Leonard Nimoy!)

So the book said that she should diffuse the situation by leaving the room. So she dutifully followed the instructions. She went into the kitchen. And I dutifully followed. She said that I instantly stopped crying, stood up, followed her into the kitchen and immediately began the tantrum again. Huge hysterical tears, and all. So she again obeyed the good doctor until the only room available was the bathroom.

She locked herself in and evidently, I threw myself on the floor yet again and screamed through the crack on the floor. Finally, at a loss, she called my grandmother who recommended that she apply the Dr. Spock book to my rear. She did not follow the advice to which I am grateful, but you get the point. I literally chased my mother into a bathroom!!!!

It's amazing how powerful such little children can be. But something that I was reminded of the last two days is how powerful fellow mommies can be. When you are locked in a bathroom (or any other room in the house) hiding from your own kids, it is easy to feel VERY alone. But I was not. My mom was not. None of us are alone.