Snakes are scary little creatures. To me. I have never come into contact with one, no, not even a single time. Even if I KNOW the snake is harmless... It doesn't matter. Just not something what I'd willingly subject myself to, thankyouverymuch. And in case you are concerned my irrational fear might unduly affect my two boys, rest assured... Jay loves all creatures. The scarier and meaner-looking, the better! So fierce dinosaurs, and of late, snakes and other creepy crawled rock his world.
I once heard someone say, "No one has ever died from a snakebite. Not ever."
Immediately the non-snake-lover in me shouted, "Impossible! Do you know what you are talking about? There are venomous snakes, ya know!"
And then the person continued, "They will die of the poison from the snakebite."
So when a snake bites you, sure you can take your revenge out on the snake, kill it, stomp on it, skin it... But the poison, if left untreated, will eventually still harm you as well.
I guess this can apply to so many areas of our lives, and in particular, parenting.
Parenting snakebites comes in the form of the sullen silence, the repeated "No!!!"s, the ability to listen to some instructions and promptly forgetting and doing the exact opposite, the incessant whining, the restless nights...
Nah, I am not comparing my kids to snakes. They are the most wonderful boys. Full of joy, smiles, happiness... And also full of screams, frowns, and cheeky naughtiness. While I wish parenting were a bed of roses and smiles and roses... Often the reality is there is also the sweat and frustrations and irritations that come alongside.
And sometimes when there is just one too many snakebite, one too many rub on the wrong way, tempers start to wear thin and instead of stepping back and calming down, we can tend to reach out and smack the snake, and vent our frustrations at our poor kids, and find ourselves grasping at the very last straws of even-temperedness.
Of course, if you're some Zen-like mom, you probably haven't had such an experience. But me? Still susceptible to those snake bites, I'm afraid.
And with an actual snakebite, if you want to survive, you've got to slow down your heart rate lest the venom travels to your heart fast.
And so when I am faced with a particularly explosive situation, a few deep, deep breaths to slow down my heart rate helps me from over-reacting and saying or doing something I might regret.
Have a Talkative Thursday post? Where you can pour out on anything (the antithesis of Wordless Wednesdays, if you will), and feel free to link up!
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