Prayer

I learned yet again last night that getting angry and yelling at kids does not work.  Consistently it makes me feel terrible.  Adrenaline and anger responses flood my whole body and even if I intended to only be angry for a moment, it takes at least a half an hour for the effects to clear my system.  Plus then I feel like a bad mom, so I’m grumpy because I’m a failure at the only thing that really matters.  The problem is that sometimes it does produce the desired change in the child that I wanted.  Because of that, I’m tempted and sometimes I give in.  The thing I realized last night is that God does not approve and not just when it doesn’t work.  He never approves of it.  I feel like I’ve done a good job retraining myself to not react with anger and yelling to my children’s misbehaviors and even when I’m just irritated.  I think that this realization is the final key I need to not be tempted to give in anymore.  It never works because it hurts me.  It never works because it is never okay with God.