Zen and the Art of Keeping Parental Composure

I really think, ok, I know, I scared Ella this evening. Stressfull day at work + boundry testing, non-dinner eating 3 year old + cranky, sick 7 month old + lasagna everywhere + a snow globe... well, you know where this is going. Mama lost it when the crash occurred. I mean, really? How many snow globes did we go through at Christmas? And, really, am I that stupid to leave another one within her reach? Apparently the answer is yes. I think I yelled so loud that I got horse afterwards for a bit. Now that I am calm and able to (mostly) reflect reasonably, I am not liking my actions. I really don't want to be the parent that rules militantly and through fear, however it's really difficult on occassion to stop and take that deep breath before the wrath just surfaces. So we sat down and had a heart to heart while she was in the tub and I apologized and told her I always love her no matter how loud I'm being. I hope I got the point across. I love you Ellabean and I promise to try really hard to remember that although you act like you're 13 sometimes, you still are only 3 and you're still learning how to navigate this world. Well, I guess we all are.