Dear Dr. Laura (a.k.a. my parenting Cheerleader!),
This morning I awoke to a familiar feeling which I have finally labeled. I am diagnosing this feeling as a "parenting hangover". After going a couple of rounds yesterday afternoon with my thirteen year old son, trying to keep in mind the cheerleading and wise advice I hear from you and my hero of a husband, I awoke this morning realizing that I'm "hung-over" from the experience! Today, as I'm running my errands, I will gratefully be able to turn on my car radio and get an adequate dose of your cheerleading which will no doubt dissipate these feelings. Your encouraging words for those of us who are so blessed to be able to stay at home with our children (even when hangovers result) will be a little of "the hair of the dog that bit me"!
This lingering feeling of taking in too much likely results from a failure on my part of knowing when to WALK AWAY (emotionally) from the situation. Our oldest (of three) has a way of sucking me into an argument that I have no business having with him (and he certainly has no business having with me!) Many pieces of advice from you were blending around in my head as I tried to not react and stick to my guns being the parent. I pray I'll continue to improve and one day he'll grow to recognize a parent who actually cares about his school work and his future is a great parent to have! In the meantime, I know I can tune you in whenever I need that vital boost I'm doing the right thing. Thanks for being the cure for many of us who wake up to a parenting hangover and just need to be reminded not to quit but just to "do the right thing"!
With gratitude and a little headache,
S. - I am my husband's girlfriend and my kids' mom (13, 12, 8)
