What triggers your anger?
A sassy child?
When your hubby sits on the couch while you work in the kitchen?
Telling your child for the tenth time to put the tablet away?
I tend to get angry when timelines get tight. Fridays can be a bear. After school, we run a Sonshine Bible Club for 70+ elementary school kids. I get home (sometimes rather spent!) then we hurry to put our martial arts outfits on. Friday is sparring day which means a huge duffel bag of pads, gloves, etc. goes with each person.
Now here’s the kicker for me (no pun intended)…AFTER sweating in martial arts, we go to small group. Our small group is rather large…10 families…and my friends look nice at small group.
We don’t come home first as the small group is closer to the martial arts studio. Which means I don’t really have time to freshen up.
Last Friday, I really didn’t want to do this. I wasn’t feeling 100% and it just seemed like too much for the kids too. I ranted to James, “None of us want to go to martial arts. We’re all tired. You’re the only one who wants to go!”
A few minutes later, he yelled to everyone, “Okay, we’re not going to martial arts. You can all relax!”
I took a nap.
And I was much happier at small group that night.
We all have re-occurring situations that cause us angst and anger. Wouldn’t it be great to anticipate your triggers and plan better responses?
That’s what my friends and fellow moms Amber Lia and Wendy Speake of the MOB Society (Mothers of Boys) have done.
They have a very helpful book that launches today called Triggers: Exchanging Parent’s Angry Reactions for Gentle Biblical Responses. They examine common parenting issues that cause us to explode inappropriately at our children.
The more you can identify your triggers, the more you can train yourself to respond more calmly. This new book will help you do just that!
Breathe deeply mom…help is on the way! Check the book Triggers out. You’ll be glad you did (and so will your family)!
