Parenting Anger Happens - Here's How to Use It for Good

Hey friends,

All 8 of my kids are home for the first time in 2 months! Three of them went on overseas missions trips. The others were mostly home with the occasional vacation, camp week, or something similar to break things up.

If you follow me online, you probably saw me posting pictures this weekend of my kids all back together again. I LOVED it! I’ve missed having our whole family together!

Then Monday came.

Rachel and several of the kids had a job to do. I solo-parented the rest of the crew. We had multiple rooms full of dumped stuff I know I told them to pick up earlier. I had to follow up way too many times on the basic morning routine. (I’m not sure when brushing teeth, getting dressed, and making your bed became optional 😂.)

Then came one of the weirdest sibling conflicts I’ve ever had to navigate. Oh, did I mention the random bag of mini-marshmallows opened and spilled on the floor that no one claimed opening.

Of course, I naturally turned on my awesome parenting skills, met each kid where they were emotionally, and guided our family to a peaceful morning.

NOT.

I struggled.

It was hard.

And the culprit? My own emotions.

Looking back, it went much better than it could have gone, but it was far from picture-perfect.

Maybe you’ve had one of those moments, too where you know your kids are having a rough day, and you tell yourself it’s OK because they’re still learning. But that doesn’t change the fact that you’re struggling with your own emotions.

If that’s ever been you, then do two things:

1. Kick the shame you’re feeling out the door. It has no place here.

2. Check out this week’s video. It’s a different kind of video for me, and I think it will really help all of us.

This week’s video (and actually the next two weeks as well) isn’t focused on our kids or a bunch of parenting strategies. It’s focused on us—our own emotional struggles and what we can do about them.

So check it out. You’ll be so glad that you did.

All my best,
B.J.

P.S. If this idea of working on your own emotions strikes a chord with you, check out jesushelpmeparent.com/summersanity for more.