The toddler rush

So this time round you have the alarm set for 5:00am just so you can have a mini lie-in for 30 minutes and then jump straight out of bed at 5:30 prompt. The bad thing is you got up at 5 and tottered round the room looking for your mobile phone so you could ‘snooze’ the irritating alarm. The phone wasn’t in your room because your toddler had hang on to it and somehow dropped it in the living room. So at 5:32am you find yourself on all fours groping under the sofa and squinting in the semi darkness to try and kill the now very offensive sound of your phone.By the time you get it, you are so frustrated, though thankful that your toddler is still in bed so you decide to hit the ‘off’ button rather than the ‘snooze’. You think – “I can still catch a 20 minute snooze before I need to be up! So your back in bed with the blankets pulled right up to your chin curled up in a tight ball! You are curled up so tight that dear husband knows he cannot get through to you so he gets up to make you both a nice cup of coffee (bless him!)You are roused by the sound of happy giggling by your bedside and as you start to stretch out with pleasure, smiling at the sounds your toddler is making…. Ooops! Crash!!! And you are up with a start, feeling confused, baby scampering up to draw close to you, your morning coffee is all over the floor and the cup in broken shards. At the back of your mind you are thinking why your dear husband isn’t running to your rescue because ‘happy toddler’ is now not so happy anymore and is screaming for attention wondering why you look so flustered. By now you are having evil thoughts of how you would like to wring your selfish hubby’s neck when you see the now coffee stained note he left you by your bedside. It reads,“You looked so peaceful babe I didn’t have the heart to wake you. Have a lovely day. Love ya!” This is all too much! You had the morning all planned out! You pick up a screaming toddler and rocked her softly to try and restore some calm, all the while trying hard not to cry yourself. The stained floor and broken cup can wait. First, you need to calm down. And that’s the smartest idea you have had all morning!A calmer mom makes toddlers more manageable. I have found that ‘energy’, whether positive or negative is contagious. While all the planning in the world may not make for a perfectly mapped out day with your toddler, trying to keep your cool at all times goes a long way in keeping your child settled and calm. Or at least calmer!Perhaps we should run a series on tips of how to be calmer working mom! That might help.