Sounds so familiar! It's always good to hear similar experiences/feelings/solutions. Thanks!

What is this strange mist in my eyes?! I must need to dust, because kind remarks from an internet stranger don't make eyes misty!! Ahem. Thank you. Very sweet. It's awesome to have someone with whom you can share those experiences. Your are lucky to have your best friend and she, you. It takes a village, so I hear. ;)

You're great. Hugs to you, too! Parenting IS hard. I'm so thankful for the times when moms can talk honestly about parenting mistakes and receive understanding rather than judgment. It beats the hell out of putting on a happy face and pretending to be perfect all the time. That can be exhausting!

Considering what he and his followers believe about book learnin' and education, I doubt he learned much of anything in middle school.

My husband and I were talking the other day about the alleged "terrible two's". It went something like this:

This a million times. My dad and mom gave me similar non-apologies. And unfortunately, I've had to have those "I was WRONG" discussions with my kid. But I make sure he knows that I'm in the wrong and it's not okay. It definitely gives him the reassurance that we're ok- something i never got from my parents. I never…

The shame comes from having a small person who thinks the world of you look at you in a way that says, 'I'm scared and I don't understand' because he's never seen you raise your voice like that. At least with an adult, they know they've acted like an asshole. But kids just have no idea that what they're doing is…

I understand what you're saying. But from the comments I've read, and my own responses included, I think what a lot of these women are saying is that we don't want to yell [I haven't seen any comments that talk about hitting], but sometimes we do yell. That doesn't make us abusive or shitty people, it just makes us…

I get it. I really get it. My siblings and I also struggle with Catholic father guilt, which is much like the God guilt, just a different level of personal hell. We call it "alter boy" syndrome in my family. Just like Dad has to be a good alter boy for the priest, we have to be good alter children for the father. I'm…

Oh, I understand. Last Christmas, I had my worst parenting moment to date. I ran into a store to buy one item - a gift card. Literally, just a 5 min trip. I had my then 3yo and my infant with me. I'm checking out and at the same time i realize I've left my wallet in the car, my 3yo decides he wants to take home the…

Thank you! I would appreciate it!

It is. I wish I had more time to stay involved with it. Woman to Woman International is the group. I was a member of a regional chapter Woman to Woman Midwest, and a board member of the local chapter Woman to Woman Kentuckiana. It's an empowerment community for women. Good people.

This is what gets me. I have a friend who chooses "rational discussion" when her kid is pummeling my kid. It's extremely aggravating, because I'm like "hey! quit hitting" and she's all "now Blanknen, we don't use our hands to communicate. We use our words. What words would you like to say right now?"

Thank you for making me laugh. I'm currently struggling with 4yo pre-school discipline, and a laugh made the stress of it magically disappear.

I haven't even read the whole post yet, and I just want to hug you and sympathy cry and tell you OMG!!! I've been there. Except that this scenario would have probably ended with me yelling at my child, and then feeling the immediate and overwhelming shame that comes along with it. I just want to tell you that you did…

I'm dealing with this now. I have a 4 year old who understands a lot, but not everything. The rare times that I have resorted to yelling (because Christ! nothing else works), it scared him because he's not used to it. I don't see how pre-K teachers do it day in and day out. I feel like my kid pushes more boundaries…

This is so true - the spectrum. I used to volunteer with a group that would try to help women discover the difference between guilt (something you did) and shame (something you are). We would do exercises that would help them determine the moment their guilt became shame. For women, this seems to be a very common…

It works for Catholics. My siblings and I have been living out our Catholic guilt our whole lives (despite not one of us being practicing Catholics).

Shaggy Ballad reporting for duty!

Here's what makes me bonkers about the current iteration of Ava/Eva. I have a relative and a neighbor both named "Eva," but each child's name is pronounced differently. Can we at least agree on a uniform way to spell and/or pronounce the name?