Turn it Around

Is homeschooling in a pandemic, with five kids, in a Fifth Wheel, and with an ADHD brain hard? YES!!! The other day I hit my limit and went on a wild frenzy yelling, smacking butts and I stopped in the middle of my rampage right away and ran out the door. It can get so loud and I get over-touched. I kept feeling that everything they were doing was a personal attack on me. It was my birthday and I told them all I wanted was for them to listen to mom and not bicker. Why I expected any different, I don’t know- kids will be kids. But on my ‘mommy time out’ I walked up and down my driveway like 30x just cooling down and obsessively repeated scripture out loud. PERSEVERANCE verses, ‘this too shall pass’ phrases, etc. Until I could convince myself that life is not the way I envisioned, it’s tough, but I’m not alone in this survival mode. Things will change, we are all safe, and healthy and I am responsible for setting the mood in my household. I walked back, hugged them all, apologized and told them, “If you ever feel like you are having a ‘no no day, feel free to walk it out like I just did. I feel much better and happy.” I turned it into a real life example on how to take captive thoughts and actions. And with that  I continued on with the rest of our science  lesson. Thankfully kids are so forgiving and resilient and they learn by your actions. You can redeem yourself mid-mistake and turn it around.