I think we have all had those “bad mommy” days.  The days where it feels like we can’t do anything right.  The days where the only words that come out of our mouths are “no”, “stop”, “not right now”.  The days where we start to feel a tingle of pain in our throats because we have spoken so forcefully all day.  The days where your kids have cried all day long because you have crushed their hopes and dreams.  You probably shed your fair share of tears as well.   The days where you shout that you just need 5 minutes to yourself and hide away to scream your frustration into a pillow.  Maybe you are like me and just actually break down and scream in front of your children, scaring them into a hysteric sobbing mass.  And then you join them and sob hysterically on the floor alongside them.

I have been having a bad mommy week.  I keep saying to myself, “It can’t possibly be this bad.  They can’t possibly be this difficult.  It has to be me.  I am doing something wrong here.”  Its been a very long week of fussing, and fighting, and sass.  Which that can be expected when one of your children is a “Three-nager” and the other is in full force “terrible two’s”.

By the way, if you haven’t heard of the term “Three-nager”, its like teenager… but when you’re three.  We call them this because you have entered the stage where the word “no” or “wait” or “anything but yes” is met with a hysterical wail and a dramatic tantrum like a 13 year old girl who was told that she isn’t allowed to go to the mall with their friends.  And the reason they are called “Terrible Two’s” is because (pardon my french) “F*cking awful” doesn’t start with a “T”.

But my point here is… it might be a bad mommy day, or a bad mommy week… but you are not a bad mommy.  Did you feed your kid?  Do you love your kid?  Did you keep them safe, and hug and kiss them?  Did you tell them you were sorry?  Did you tell them they are not a bad kid?  You aren’t a bad mommy.  You are a good mommy… who had a bad day.

Bad days don’t make bad mommies (or daddies).  Stop.  Step back.  Breathe.  Count.  Cry. Sing.  Drive.  Walk.  Dance.  Change the rhythm, change the moment.  Being a parent is stressful.  Sometimes it can feel so isolating.  But you are your wee things… you are a team.  And some days… it feels like no one has any training whatsoever, haha.  But you figure it out together.  Just remember… you are the adult.  Even if you don’t feel like it. (I have those “What the heck, who let me have a kid, I don’t know what I am doing” days more often than I would like to admit).

So say it with me.  I am a good mommy. Again. I am a good mommy.  And one more time…  I am a GOOD mommy.