Anyone else get irrationally angry at their kids over nothing?

Dec 101 min read

My 5yo spilled juice on the kitchen floor this morning and I absolutely lost it. Started yelling, which I never do. My wife looked at me like I'd grown a second head. Thing is, I KNOW it's not about the juice. I've been running on like 5 hours of sleep for a week because my 2yo has been sick. I feel like I'm one small inconvenience away from completely losing it all the time now. Is this normal? How do you guys handle it when you're at your breaking point?

10 comments241 views

Comments(10)

RRob P.RegularDec 10

I've learned to just walk away for 60 seconds when I feel that anger spike coming. Don't yell at the kid, don't make it worse, just breathe. It helped me way more than I expected

WWill S.RegularDec 11

yeah man this is real. it's not irrational if you can trace it back to being completely drained. not an excuse to yell at the kid obviously but it's a signal you need something to give. like sleep, or a break, or both

TTim B.RegularDec 11

The juice spill thing resonates so hard. I think it's less about the spill and more about the cumulative exhaustion finally exploding out. You probably had 47 other things building up that morning already

MMike F.RegularDec 11

dude this is so real. I snapped at my 3yo yesterday for literally just being a kid. the juice spill thing hits different for some reason. like it triggers something primal in me even though logically I know it's not a big deal

PPhil B.RegularDec 12

When my kid spilled something similar I realized I was actually angry about work stuff and he became the target. Worth looking at what else is going on. Your 5yo didn't do anything wrong

MMike F.RegularDec 12

Have you tried the thing where you literally step away for 30 seconds before reacting? I started doing that when my oldest was that age and it genuinely helped. Not always but enough times that it mattered

DDave K.RegularDec 12

wait but also how much sleep are you getting? bc that's usually the culprit for me. when I'm running on 5-6 hours everything feels like a crisis

DDan T.RegularDec 12

My therapist told me that kids spilling stuff is developmentally normal and MY reaction is what I actually control. Which sounds simple but apparently I needed to hear it from a professional to stop acting like spilled juice was a personal attack

TTyler K.RegularDec 13

Could be stress buildup honestly. Not an excuse but like, are you sleeping enough? Getting any actual breaks? Because that anger usually isn't about the juice

RRandy B.RegularDec 12

yeah and then you feel like absolute garbage about it afterwards right? the guilt spiral is real