We’ve been operating in some high stress times recently. A father who is ill, another battling a court issue, an uncle on life support for a time, a husband facing job cutbacks, a wife with too much on her plate.

I have to say, it’s really, really, really hard to maintain a calm and patient demeanor so that I can parent in a calm, patient way.

Consider this - I drove from Indiana to Canada BY MYSELF with two children (8,3) and I only had to scream a couple times over the three day trip. How? I have no idea. I think the secret lies in the fact that I had no other responsibilities… nothing else I had to do.

So I’m trying that here. I’m cutting back on several things and I’m working at focusing on friends and family. I’m getting off Facebook and getting face to face. Today I went to a friend’s house who I hadn’t seen in almost a year. This despite the fact that we live 20 mintues away. Tonight I’m going to a neighbour’s house for a little get together so we can get to know one another.

I still have deadlines, but I’m trying to make them fit around my life rather than my life fitting around them.