Preventing Mommy Melt-Downs

Mommy meltdowns- we all know them by sight, when the frantic mom of three in the grocery aisle starts screaming at the top of her lungs for her kids to stop fighting and desperately tries to get the youngest to sit back down in the shopping cart. We all even know a mommy meltdown by feeling- when that oh so patient side of ours disappears and we turn to tears and crazy woman screaming-if we do say so ourselves. Mommy meltdowns, it's safe to say we all know what they look like and even what they feel like but do we know how to prevent them?

Here are some tips to prevent a mommy meltdown especially as the oh so hectic September-back to school season- eases its way toward us.

Learn to make time for yourself- Before you start arguing there is no time, the optimal words here are TO MAKE. As a mom of 3.5 kids I can tell you from firsthand experience that you need to create time to dedicate for yourself. It doesn't have to be a long period of the day and it doesn't have to involve doing something expensive, it just has to be a little time each day that you only (I use the word only very loosely) think about yourself. Thinking about yourself can mean anything from sneaking in 2 or 3 pages of a book, catching up on recorded t.v shows for the week, taking a walk in the park, or having a lunch date with a girlfriend-anything that makes your smile a little brighter at the end of the day.

Stop believing everything has to be perfect- Yes. I said it, well I wrote it, stop striving for perfection. We mommas have this goal to have the perfectly decorated house, the perfect power woman career, the perfectly behaved, well educated, impeccably groomed children all while maintaining the perfectly romantic marriage, the perfectly fulfilled friendships, with the perfectly sculpted body because we cook perfectly made home-made meals every single perfect day of our perfect lives. Even the mere thought of that is exhausting, let's all try for our very best at each thing and be content with that.

Ask for help- This one is a combination of both 1 and 2. Even though our children think we do, we really don't know everything and we can't do everything. Sometimes we may need to ask dad or another mom, a sister, a friend or even or our own mom for advice or a hand. As modern day mommas we also have the beauty and the curse of the internet (sometimes too many different opinions can just give us a headache). But at the end of the day, we should not be ashamed to ask someone for help-well, unless it's the stranger we just met on our way home from work- then yes, be ashamed you asked them to watch your kids.

Vent- Whether you prefer to write or talk to someone, sometimes just venting out what's going on helps to diffuse the situation. Sometimes just retelling the story of little Emily drawing all over the wall in your new MAC lipstick or little Benny using the entire toilet paper roll to wipe himself after proudly using his potty puts the whole thing into perspective.

These are only a few tips, trust me there are so many more on this amazing thing called the internet, and let's not forget the library and bookstores (books? what are those?). I just hope this article was just the start of you learning what a mommy meltdown is and the art of preventing one.

3 Lessons Learned from a Total Mommy Meltdown. (n.d.). Retrieved August 11, 2015.