07/04/2026
A friend and I were talking about parenting and all the joys that come with this stage of our life ie. parenting teens 🙃 and she asked me, “But how do we stay calm when we’re already in fight or flight when we walk in the door?”
I learnt this the hard way. Too many times I had driven home from work, sitting in traffic and dealing with other drivers after a long day as a support worker; before I’d even got in the car to come home I was maxed out after working 8hrs supporting someone else. Then I’m driving and all the things that come with it, likely thinking “what have I planned for dinner?”, “do I need to go to the shops?”, “what’s my bank account looking like?”, and probably a million other thoughts around life and parenting….Then before I know it I’m home and I’ve walked in the door and my kids are needing me, the dog is jumping at me to be walked, there’s a mess on the floor, the cat litter stinks etc etc…..put all of that on an already tired and overwhelmed system and it takes nothing to send us over the edge!
So, after many times of doing that and losing my cool with my kids, then the guilt eats me up and I fall in a sad heap, feeling like a s**t mum again, eventually I sat with myself and recognised I’m not a bad mum, I’m just an overwhelmed one.
I learned that I need transition time. A time to stop and connect in with myself, take some breaths and just be BEFORE I move onto the next thing. Not think about work, not think about parenting or traffic or meals or anything but just BE. With myself and my body and my breath. To take a moment to connect in. How am I feeling? What do I need? So I started sitting in my car for 5 minutes before I got home.
Once I started doing that, it all changed. I had more space for my kids (and my dog 🤣) when I got home. I felt happy to see them and I could connect with them and what they needed without feeling overwhelmed.
Maybe you see yourself in this scenario too?
Modern life is HECTIC and to thrive we need to recognise what we need and give that care to ourselves. Especially us mummas that care and give so much to others ❤️