Last week, I was the frazzled mom at the grocery store. No one wanted to go to the store, but we had reached that place of “if we want to eat supper tonight, we must go.”

So all 4 kids and I loaded into the van to go, fussy baby and rowdy 4 year old plus two more. The baby calmed down, but the 4 year old was amped up, climbing on everything and frazzling his mama. I’d love to tell you that I was the picture of patience and grace, but I wasn’t. I was a perfectly normal mom at the end of a long day trying hard not to be the one to make a scene.

We all face hard moments of craziness.  Sometimes it is kids. Other times, it can be work, schedule, clutter, or a myriad of other things.  Tough situations are handled best when you have a strategy or at least some simple tools to help deal with the stress.

What do you do when life is crazy?  Here are a few simple strategies that may help next time you are facing some chaotic situation.

• Find the humor in the moment. Surely there is a reason for joy even in the mundane.
• Say a quick prayer. Even those quick prayers that become part of an ongoing conversation with God can make a huge difference on our outlook and the outcome.
• This moment will soon pass. There are only a few frazzled moments in a day. This season of harried hurry and mama fatigue will be gone and you may even miss it.

Remember no one is asking you to be perfect. Or to have perfect kids. Most of the people you meet in the store or wherever your frazzle happens have been there.

 

Give yourself grace and when you see someone in that frazzled mode, give them grace too and maybe even some encouragement. You’ll be glad you did.

What strategies do you have for those challenging moments?