It was the one thing I always said would NEVER happen.  I would never be one of those Mum’s.  You know the ones I mean, dragging their kids round the supermarket shouting at them to behave, shouting, shouting and more shouting.  I can remember thinking to myself when I was pregnant ‘that will never be me!’  I don’t know how, when and I definitely don’t know why.  But I feel I am becoming that Mummy.

To be fair, I am not at the dragging them around the supermarket stage (yet).  But my oh my I am not far off it this week.

The problem is, I feel like I am invisible to my kids at the moment.  Oh they listen when they want food, drink or anything else, but when they are up to no good which to be fair is most of the time, they totally ignore anything I say.

I try so hard to reason with Alfie for him not to use my sofa as a climbing frame and to stop him from throwing everything in site.  I am equally as patient with Molly when she is encouraging him and joining in with his escapades whilst disappearing off for her latest outfit change every five minutes because ‘I didn’t like that one anymore Mummy’ or running off with Alfie’s dummy for the hundredth time that day.   I am so so patient when they are both trying to empty the fridge when I am cooking dinner. But I get worn out saying the same thing over and over and over and over.  I swear I am like a broken record.  Then ‘Shouty Mummy’ appears.  Some days I really feel that all I do from morning till night is shout.  Shout over them, shout at them, shout about them!  It is never-ending.  The stupid thing is these are the days that I then end up feeling least effective as a parent.  They listen to me even less when I raise my voice at them.

To be fair ‘Shouty Mummy’ is pretty exhausted at the moment with two toddlers one of which is teething and not sleeping well at all, and is then waking the other one up.  All of this on top of being on her own all week with two kids whilst her husband works the most ridiculous hours known to man and trying to hold down a job at the same time herself.   But I don’t like her and I feel at the moment she spends a little bit too much time around here which makes me sad, it also makes me feel like a totally rubbish parent as well.  I could really do with the calm organised, unstressed Mummy back for a little while if it is at all possible?

One day, maybe I will get some sleep and perhaps even my kids will listen to me for a change and ‘Shouty Mummy’ will ‘do one’ for good!  Or maybe not, perhaps we are all a bit of a ‘Shouty Mummy’ from time to time?

Doe she visit you sometimes too, or is it just me?!