Keeping your cool

[Momof4]

I don't have any children over the age of 4, no school agers at all, so I think that's what saves me. Do you find the older children are the ones making you feel stressed? I've had the little tattletale, the one who narrated the entire day, the ones who are picky eaters, the ones who don't socialize, and so on and so on. All children are different.

But from day one at my daycare, even if a child is only 10 months old they are going to learn my rules, expectations and I'm consistent with absolutely everything so that they learn. I get exhausted and burned out sometimes too, definitely. When I have the kind of child you described I have to remind myself to treat them equally when it comes to kind words and hugs when I can hardly stand to have them around. Patience, perseverance, rules, routines, wow, it's really hard some days, I know.

To answer your question in a more definitive way, yes, when things have gone out of control I've cancelled plans and turned on the tv for the children, told them to play with the toys and have decided to give myself a break that day so that I don't break. Sometimes we have to take a step back and write off the day. Who says we have to be perfect? We're human too. When the inmates are taking over the asylum we have to let go of the trip to the park or the craft for the day or whatever we had planned. Maybe that's exactly what the children need, you know? Maybe they need an easy day too.