Breathe First.

A friend just sent me an example of a daily "thought" subscription that is e-mailed to her. There was no better day for me to read this one. It talked about how on airplanes, parents are always instructed to put on their oxygen masks first, then their childrens'. The same goes for all situations in parenting. Instead of instantly focusing on "fixing" the child in times of stress / problems, first take your "breath." You can deal with the problem more effectively.

So true and needed today considering truthfullness proved to be a problem for the oldest child, clingyness for the middle, and explosive diarrhea (that magically bypassed the diaper) for the youngest. Oooooookay....take a breath.