The rage that parenting has awakened in me caught me completely off guard. I work with highly behavioral kids as a licensed behavior analyst. Kids who throw chairs, scream, bolt out of rooms, and sometimes hurt themselves and others. I absorb it all, redirecting and staying calm. I rarely feel triggered or dysregulated when I’m working. In fact, calmness comes easy. I use positive-reinforcement systems and give gentle reminders. I say things like, “I see that you’re frustrated, let’s go take a walk.”
At home though, I’m yelling at my 6-year-old son about kindness and the importance of following directions. And I’m doing this while lifting all 47 pounds of him off the ground, evacuating him from the living room to his bedroom after he’s shoved his 18-month-old sister despite my several calm requests to give her some space.
