and if you don't have a kid or your child is too young to do something yellable and you're sitting on your high horse, "well i NEVER" then to you i say.. your day will come. maybe it won't! maybe you are blessed with eternal patience and perfect self control. but when your child someday throws his or her self on the ground in the middle of a parking lot, refusing to stand up, and WAILING while you're carrying a carseat and trying to prevent any children from getting run over...i would love to see how you handle it. because i obviously need an example.
it was fairly rare that i lost my temper with els before baby. post baby i'm running on little sleep, have raging hormones (right?? how long can i use that excuse?), and am already slightly more stressed on every outing because sometimes newborns feel like ticking time bombs. anyway the frequency of scary mom voice has gone up exponentially since i became a mother of two.
you know the voice. it's the one you hear a woman you probably pity, even though she does not want your pity, use in the grocery store to reign her child in. before i had kids i was always terrified of these women and judged them so hard. and promised myself i would never lose control like that in public or look that haggard or whatever.
buuuuuut poorly-timed trips to target can bring out the worst in all of us.
a part of me dies everytime i use scary mom voice with elsie. even though she is the most forgiving (forgetful?) child. when you hear that horrid sound come out of your mouth and see the terror/betrayal of trust/secretly stocking away resentment in their eyes you just want to curl up and die.
so don't judge the scary moms. they already feel really bad okay. and they're probably not always scary moms.
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listen. this is weird because I'm still blog stalking you from high school...but I just had to chime in here to say
amen.
to everything. if you learn how to overcome losing patience after the second child please send me the magic formula.
We've talked about this at work (moms, single and married woman) and we came up with an awful conclusion: the best kids always had an ounce or two of fear when it came to their moms. I know we are terrible. maybe we were justifying the bouts of rage we foresee in our future but I think you are an awesome mom. Instagram is proof.
oh the dreaded scary mom voice! one of my favorite people-watching activities is looking for stressed-out parents on outings with their kids (especially on vacation with their kids) and the scary mom voice is totally a key ingredient in spotting them! I don't do this to be judgy necessarily -- mostly just because I find it funny, and I remember my mom's and my grandma's scary voices from my childhood. As an adult, the familiar sound actually just brings back endearing memories from my childhood and appreciation my mom. So don't stress about Els. I'm sure it will be the same for her :)
p.s.
newborns are totally ticking time bombs of the most sweet and innocent sort.
The worst part about the poorly timed Target trip is the self-imposed guilt that goes along with 'if only I'd [whatever]' so then not only do you feel guilt for shouting and being cross, but also for even trying to do whatever it is you did. Also, newborns really do feel like time bombs. I like it when I know what to expect in life and that is a non option with those little bugs.
I have noticed my scary mom voice coming out more and more as this pregnancy has progressed and I've gotten more tired and sore and uncomfortable and etc. Poor Jack. But maybe I'll just say that it's preparing him for when his little sister is here?
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