tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2963653505965261222.post826053902937496131..comments2016-03-02T13:36:27.989-05:00Comments on Blended Space: Overwhelming guilt.Hilaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03022909724191342924noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2963653505965261222.post-46125589424014931092011-08-23T06:09:19.595-04:002011-08-23T06:09:19.595-04:00Dealing with children day-to-day that you are ulti...Dealing with children day-to-day that you are ultimately responsible for is one of the most stressful and emotional challenges that a parent has to face. . .whether you have a job outside the home or not. Anyone who will tell you otherwise simply has either never had that ultimate responsibility or has blocked it out because they lost it more times than they care to admit. Some days like yours here will take you to the brink of self-doubt, when you are just so, so weary, so emotionally and physically exhausted that you fear you will absolutely break down, shut down and do the unthinkable. . take it out on your kids. Don't berate yourself for saying what you said, Hil. There was more harm done to your self-image as the perfectly-composed mom than to your 2-month-old. Others at the breaking point would have done much more harm, and they do every day. . you know that. It is so hard some times when you have no one to relieve you and you just cannot think of what to do next, when you are overwhelmed like you were with two little ones demanding your attention. What saved me a lot of times from losing it was repeating in my head over and over. . ."this too shall pass, this too shall pass, this too shall pass." Thinking about any frustrating or emotionally scarey situation as being truly a temporary obstacle always helped me to stay focused on being emotionally strong and reminding myself to live up to my standards of parenting when things seemed overwhelming. And in those moments when I repeated that mantra to myself in a struggle to maintain control, the thought that went hand-in-hand with it always was how much I loved my children, that nothing in the world was more precious, and that I owed it to them to hang onto my sanity. So I would take a deep breath, even give myself a few seconds of not responding to them to allow myself to fall back into "control" mode and that would clear my head enough to figure a way out of that terrible moment and get things back on an even keel. Sounds to me like you are doing a great job and learning how to be strong along the way. . I love you, MamaCosettehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18002535780205521335noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2963653505965261222.post-57244686747453431742011-08-23T00:02:55.201-04:002011-08-23T00:02:55.201-04:00I am so familiar with that mama guilt, but you rea...I am so familiar with that mama guilt, but you really can't torment yourself with it. Your kids are loved and well cared for, you bust your tail for them. They know it now and they will know it always. Give yourself permission to lose it every now and then... full-time momming is an extremely difficult job.<br /><br />Oh and I tell my kids to "shut your mouth" at least twice a day most days, so you don't come anywhere close to worst-mama-in-the-world. Not even close.<br /><br />I love you Hil... and your pretty bebes too!HeatherLakinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17987456776447039746noreply@blogger.com