Why is leaving the house so hard?!

Conversation with Sophie today at 2.55pm just before school run

Me: Sophie do you need a wee? Sophie: no Me: Are you sure? Sophie: yes Me: Shall we try a wee? Sophie: no Me: will you tell me if you need a wee? Sophie: yes

I proceed to get Sophie’s shoes and helmet on ready to go and run up stairs to get Connie who is sleeping so annoyingly I have to wake her. I come down and Sophie is standing in a puddle of wee. Why???!! I am so annoyed! Seriously who has the kind of patience required to deal with this situation? I must admit I did not behave very graciously as I angrily pulled her clothes off and asked her to explain herself. These situations seem to be quite frequent just as we are trying to get out the door.

I mean look at that innocent face!

I am always looking for ways to help me stay calm and not lose my head. One thing I’ve found helpful is to put a reminder by the shoes to take a deep breath and pray. I’ve told the kids this and sometimes they help remind me when I’m getting jittery. I’m glad God is more gracious with me than I am with the kids!

Identifying preparing to leave the house is always going to trigger stress in me is helpful so I can target it and handle it better. I read half a book recently (I’m quite good at starting books not so good at finishing them) anyway its called ‘The joy switch’ by Chris Coursey. It refers to this switch in the brain that you can help train yourself to switch on when something pushes your button and it helps you stay relational in situations rather than flying off the handle. It encourages you to pause and take a deep breath and think am I being relational or am I just seeing a problem. I found that helpful. Ideally I’d have everything organised too, ready to go as we step out the door… it’s a good aspiration!