Patience

I read two great articles lately that were similar to what I had in mind when I wrote the "Overwhelmed" post a while ago, although these are much more eloquent and in depth. "To the Furious Mom in the Target Parking Lot" and "The Difficult Empathy of Parenthood" both sum up an incident the writer witnessed in which a mom lost her patience with her child and snapped at him/her. Instead of judging the other woman, though, the writer sympathized with her and recounted incidents in which they too lost their temper momentarily and the guilt they felt afterwards. (To be clear, I'm talking about snapping verbally, not physical abuse.)

Taking care of another human being is hard. Recognizing how hard it is, sometimes, can't be done unless you've been there yourself. There is no such thing as a perfect mother, and I love that these articles show that everyone has their moments.

Favorite quotes from each:
"Having a child is a series of tiny successes and failures, all microscopic to the onlooker, all specific to our households alone in ways that cannot quite be explained. We are luckiest as parents when there is no audience to our failures. Failures are the hardest to explain, and yet those are the very instances when we are most desperate for a little understanding, a little empathy."
-The Difficult Empathy of Parenthood

"My anger leaves a bitter taste in my mouth and guilt in my heart. I hate that feeling, and I bet you do too, but sometimes the world just bursts into flames and you can't do anything but stand there, burning."
-To the Furious Mom in the Target Parking Lot

And remember ...

:)