A friend put herself in a time-out as there was chaos in the house. I happened to be doing the same thing but in my case, I wrote down a list of chores that I expected my kids to complete within the 15-minute time-frame I had given to calm myself down. Of course, I was on fb so that 15 minutes stretched into 30 but whatever.

The point of this post is not about moms (or dads!) putting themselves in a time-out. Nor about being creative in getting the kids to do their chores. (Mine wasn't creative. It was an act of desperation. If you saw me running and throwing down the sheet of paper and yelling at the kids, "15 minutes OR ELSE!!!" and running back to my bedroom and locking the door, you would see very clearly how crazy I was at the moment. That's fine. I'm okay with that.)

ANYWAY. Yikes! Like my rambling? Oops. There I go again! (Stupid oops song just popped in my head. C'mon, it did in your head too. Admit it.) OKAY - all of of this triggered a memory for me. One that totally exasperated me back in the day but now makes complete sense to me now. My mom, when she was at that breaking point would simply say, "I'm not your mom. I'm Aunt Jane. Go away." That was her way of saying, "Stop touching me. Stop asking me why. Stop tattling. Stop breathing on your brother/sister/cat/inanimate object. Stop screaming. Stop. Stop. STOP!" She would repeat herself if needed but we quickly learned that when mom was Aunt Jane - stay out of her way and just fend for ourselves.

I think I need to incorporate this Aunt Jane bit into my family. But, not Aunt Jane. I can't say it like my mom did. In a low, measured voice. No. I think I need to come up with a name that is... you know uh.... suits my other side. Hm. Aunt Penelope! Nah, I actually love that name. Aunt... well, what? Any suggestions?