Love These Kids Through Me

I found myself at the website Irritable Mother.com. I am still not sure where I started from. It may have been 5MinutesforMom or Moms Blogging. Both are great places to visit even if I am wrong. haha. Karen Hossink was writing my life. This is a blurb from the introduction to her book.

This Irritable Mother couldn’t wait to have kids. She loves her children dearly and thanks God for them often. However, when her babies turned into toddlers and started talking back and leaving messes around, this Irritable Mother became a little less excited about being a mother. When her children started fighting with each other and followed her around the house complaining and making demands, she began despairing of motherhood. It came to a head one day when their pursuit of her seemed relentless and she found herself sitting behind a closed door, crying out to God, actually questioning His wisdom in giving her children. She wanted to be a good mom, meeting all their needs as best as she could, but it seemed to her the only thing she could do was be a failure. She felt like she was letting her kids and God down.

I found myself thrilled to have found a voice that was similar to mine. I struggle everyday with the scenario above. My son once said he was sure the family would welcome another baby cause he had prayed to God about it. I told him that God knew I could not handle another baby no matter how much I love them. Of course, I don't think I was nearly as well medicated at the time. Antidepressants saved me from total meltdown. Though I come close sometimes I can usually pull myself back from the abyss pretty quickly.

I quickly signed up for her newsletter and got my Irritable Mothers Survival Kit in my inbox with in seconds. In this short but very sweet email were some great ideas for slowing down and interacting with your children in a way that reflects the love of Jesus. I say this because Karen used the example of Jesus to come up with the practices she suggests. The four things she suggests are looking at your kids, loving them through prayer at the hardest times, touching them and finding a way to get away. She goes into depth on each of these. I will let her words speak for themselves.

I am struggling here about sharing more because I KNOW she is using this email as a way of growing her mailing list. I certainly do not want to undermind her efforts. But I also know that when a mom finds herself with anger and impatience towards her children that is experienced day after day there is a desperation to find help or at least to find others who are authentic enough that you know they understand. So I will direct you again to her website which is linked above.

Karen also has a blog of her own at Surviving Motherhood.

That last one, "find a way to get away", has always been a hard one for me. I joke with my husband that if ever I disappear just look for me at the closest Hampton Inn. A love Hampton Inn. We have two close to us. One east 1 exit on the highway and the other 1 exit west. And the next time I need a break I am packing a good book and the cable TV schedule and heading down the highway. Of course, I will tell my husband first.