February 12, 2013
“My struggle with
rage was not uncommon to mothers… it just isn’t talked about.”
This is one of the opening sentences in booklet
entitled Mommy
Anger Management that I recently read to help me focus on what exactly
triggers my anger and give me tips to help deal with those situations. I got my
attention because it is so true. Especially among stay-at-home, homeschooling
moms. So what did she have to say? Nothing earth-shattering; just exactly what
I needed to hear though.
She suggested keeping a notebook to answer log answers
to questions like:
-
Why did you do lose your temper?
-
What happened just before you grew
so angry?
-
How are you feeling? Do you have a
headache? Are you hungry?
-
When was the last time you went outside?
-
How did your body react as your
anger grew?
Keeping
a log book would help you see the pattern you would not see otherwise. For me
those answers were easy. No one listens to me; I repeated myself for the 30th
time; tired; yes; no; days ago, unless you count driving three kids to Tae Kwon
Do for a one hour class; I clench my teeth, my fist, and stomp on the floor.
But knowing these answers wasn’t helping me avoid being angry in the first
place. So I kept reading.
“I was less-likely to blow up when I was spending time with God every morning”
Now there was something I could grab a hold of. I had made the connection to Bible study and prayer and my bad moods before. But somehow never made the leap to my angry outbursts. And the truth that spending time with alone with God sets the tone for the whole day is such a simple one that I constantly forget it. I make an effort to do a devotional every day with the children after breakfast. Hey, might as well start their day on the right foot too! Now when my blood is starting to boil because I’ve told the children to clean their rooms for the 30th time I stop and ask myself if we remembered to do our devotional. If not we stop and do it. That alone will usually fix the problem.
“I recognized my triggers for a meltdown”
The need to repeat myself has always been a button pusher for me. And if I get an ‘I heard you the first time’ response after I start yelling I get even angrier. Really?!? If you heard me the first time then you should have obeyed. Now, I know kids can hear you without actually hearing you. They are so wrapped up in the game they are playing that even though they recognize the words that are coming from my mouth, true understanding just isn’t there. So now I try to make sure they actually heard me. If I don’t get an immediate ‘Yes ma’am’, or if little feet are not rushing off to carry out my every command, I will call out their names. This I found is particularly helpful. Now they know I am talking to them and not to thin air.J Making eye contact with them makes it impossible for them to say they didn’t hear me.
“I needed to take a little time for me”
Aha! Of everything I read, this one statement resonated with me. It didn’t really sink in until a couple of days later. I had scheduled a play date with family friends. We spent the entire day together. We took the day off school (cuz sometimes you just have to do that), the children played together, we had lunch, and we two mommies sat and chatted. It felt good to be out of the house. It felt good to talk to another adult. It felt good to walk away from everything that stresses me out on any given day. And as I sat there babbling about my problems I said something to my dear friend I didn’t even realize I was feeling. Bitterness and resentment. Toward my husband.
He regularly gets up at 4:00 am. Most days it is just to go to work. But quite regularly it is so he can have breakfast with some men from our church. I was feeling angry because he was getting what I needed. Time with friends to talk over coffee.
That was an epiphany moment for me. I confessed that to my poor unsuspecting husband and we talked. Mostly I talked and he listened. But just that simple discovery was so freeing. Now I know when the boiler is about to explode it is time for a play date.
“I personally believe that our rage is a habit.
Whether we were victimized or just developed this pattern because of the craving for control over that
which we cannot control, we are stuck in a rut.”
Control. Yes. I want control. I want people, especially my children, to do what I tell them to do, when I tell them to do it. My husband and I often joke that our son would make a very good dictator of some third world country. He barks orders at every one. He has been that way since birth. He is out little command-man. But he comes by this trait honestly. The notion that everyone would be happy if thy just did things your way is not only a control issue, it is a sin issue. It is selfishness. It is putting your needs and wants and desires above someone else’s.
That said a child does need to learn to obey and do so immediately and with a joyful heart. I read somewhere (I think it’s in the Bible but I can’t remember the reference) that if a child cannot obey his parents, how is he ever going to obey God? I haven’t got that one figured out yet but we’re working on it.
Finally, she ends with a few tips:
1. Seek to put God first
2. Commit Scripture to memory and quote it out loud
3. Do a Bible study on how God rescued His people
4. Walk through your home and pray in every room out loud
5. Spend time with God daily
6. Stop and pray
Her final parting words will be mine.
“Believe this: There is no mistake we can make as parents that will place our children outside of God’s grace.”
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