I Don't Like You Anymore!

Remember when you were 10 years old and if you got upset you could just say "I don't like you anymore" and stomp off? Sometimes I wish I was 10 again when I am having one of those moments with my son. As with most kids, he can have melt downs over the smallest issues. Well, today was one of those days and I was just not in the mood to be "mom". All I wanted to do was turn to him and yell "I don't like you anymore" and stomp off. As I am not 10 anymore, my adult mind chimed in telling me that is really not acceptable since I am the parent. Standing there in my moment of indecision, I finally decided to do nothing. I just turned and walked away without saying a word. I was in the middle of drying his hair and I simply put the brush down, put the blow dryer down and said "I am done, go get your shoes on." I was very proud of myself as he was really pushing my buttons and I was getting very frustrated. There is always that half second when you can go from on the edge to being very upset or you can go to being calm. One of my Intentional Intentions this year is to not get sucked into his meltdowns and get upset but to be calm and find a way to work through these moments. I think the fact that I just walked away confused my son and he wasn't sure what just happened. He changed his attitude and came and told me he was sorry. I took this moment to talk about what happened and how it made both of us feel. We all have patterns of how we act in certain situations and we usually get the same outcome. I have decided to be conscious about my usual pattern when it comes to his meltdowns. Today I responded differently and received a different much better outcome. I might just be on to something here!