Entry FeedA few weeks ago I gave myself a time-out.
I never had much success with time-outs for the kids. Maybe I wasn't consistent enough (the expert answer when any of their advice fails). I gave them often enough - usually for an offense committed in front of another adult who would surely judge my mothering abilities if I didn't discipline. I just never found time-outs particularly effective.
Until now. Time-outs are the perfect answer for me! When I am stressed and yelling and can tell that I am losing control for no good reason, I tell the kids that, "Mommy needs a time-out" and I go to my room.
I am thirty-four. Therefore, based on traditional time-out calculations, I get 34 minutes to myself to think about my behaviour. So it was 4:30 pm, and I told the kids not to come find me until the clock read 5:00. I climbed into bed and turned on Oprah to decompress.
4 minutes later, Son Two arrived. "I already broke the eggs for my omelette."
I guess four minutes is better than nothing.