Dragon Mom

A few weeks ago, Ryan and I had a rough day.  She was pushing all my buttons and I had a very short fuse.  Bad combination.  It was a C shift, of course, and nearing the end of my day alone with the kids (in the middle of a home remodel).  I lost my temper with her after asking her not to do something three times and her still choosing to not listen and do it anyway.  I yelled at her.  Loudly.  And, I got in her face when I did.  It scared her, like I intended for it to.  Then, she looked up at me with tear filled eyes and said I was a "dragon mommy". She said "You scare me. You are a scary dragon mommy." Wow.  I felt like crap after that. After a long hug and an apology from me to her and her to me we were both okay.  She moved on, but I beat myself up about it all evening and into the next day.  I told Chris and my mom the story.  They didn't make me feel bad, I did a good job of that without any ones help.  Then, while we were in Mexico, Mom took Ryan and Emma to the library and Ryan picked out a book.  She  recognized it from school and wanted to read it with Mamaw.  They checked it out and read it when they got home.  Mom instantly realized where Ryan had come up with the dragon mom comment.  Although I may have resembled a dragon, she didn't come up with that awful analogy on her own (thank goodness!).  Maybe I haven't scarred her for life after all! 

Mom sent me this illustration from the book

and the page that explains it all.