Anger Management And Toddlerhood

I've had an anger problem for a very long time.  I tend to blow up easily and get frustrated quickly.  It's not a part of my personality that I like and I'm working very hard to manage my anger better.  When I first found out I was pregnant, one of the things I was the most afraid of was harming my child in my anger.  Dealing with a newborn baby and the lack of sleep and crying with no sign of stopping and everything that goes with it (including horribly dramatic hormonal changes) was a huge challenge for me.  There were times I would lay my screaming child on the floor and walked away for a minute, just long enough to make sure I wasn't going to harm him.  Every mom needs a time out sometimes and I took mine.

Now that I have a toddling toddler who gets into EVERYTHING and throws his toys around and tries to chew on my phone and laughs at me when I tell him 'no', I'm finding the same challenges are coming back to haunt me.  Sometimes I need a timeout.

2.0 likes to turn on the DVD player and play with the buttons, making the tray slide in and out.  Yesterday, he played with the buttons and a DVD got stuck in the tray.  It wasn't my DVD (came from the library) and I was very irritated.  My goal to not discipline my child in anger was pushed a little bit.

It's not easy to manage something like my anger when I'm dealing with my child.  He doesn't understand that what he's doing is wrong.  He doesn't understand that he shouldn't play with the DVD player or throw his blocks over the little wall we have erected to keep him out of the kitchen.  He doesn't know that tossing all the clothes out of the hamper just makes more work for Mama.  He definitely doesn't know that throwing the food Mama took a lot of time preparing on the floor hurts Mama's feelings.

I have to remember that this time is precious because it won't last forever.  His babyhood went by so fast and before I knew it, I had a little boy instead of a little baby.  Now he wants to walk everywhere and make noise in the library and I have to let him.  I have to watch over him, not smother him.  But I also need to remember that his actions are not worthy of my anger.  Even when it drives me crazy.