The Witching Hour

All children have a witching hour. Neurotypical or not, there is always that time of day which is just their worst time, no matter what. For some, it’s right smack dab in the middle of the day; for others, it’s after school. Regardless of when it falls, witching hour frazzles Mom’s last nerve.

That said, the bigger problem is that Moms have a witching hour too! And when your witching hour and your child’s witching hour just happen to fall at just about the same time, in the words of the immortal Ricky Ricardo: “Oh Lucy, we have a problem.”

When Mom Has Agita

Oh my friends, the witching hour has been brutal this week! Seriously, I feel like it’s been way longer than 5 days since Mother’s Day. My son’s witching hour is usually around 5-7 pm. It doesn’t matter what time he gets up in the morning but between 5-7 pm he is a beast. Sometimes, he’s a beast right up until bedtime. (Like tonight. LOL!)

Sunday he had restaurant issues…we needed to leave in the middle of my dinner. Monday was more of the same. I must be a glutton for punishment having tried a meal out 2 nights in a row. Tuesday -he was fine until I had to tell him NO. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday: more of the same. Ordinarily, I would say it’s hard but not the end of the world. He was a bit more aggressive than I would like, but he was manageable. Except there was one major, major stumbling block. Mama’s witching hour is the exact same time. Especially, this week.

Work is extremely stressful right now. I don’t like to mix work and blog so I will be a bit vague. The best way to describe it is that I work all day long in a high stress situation and lately it has been worse than usual. By the time I get home, even after I have gone for some me time, dealing with his anger is sometimes more than I can handle. Thankfully, I have people that help but he causes them stress, too.

It truly is one of the greatest challenges I face as a Mom. How do I balance family stress and work stress without imploding? Well we know that self-care is a huge answer for that. So is time out. Oh yes – Moms need a time out.

When All Else Fails, Lock the Door!

I locked myself in my room twice this week. He was not happy. He banged on the door, wiped out the tables, knocked a few things over, lost the remote for the TV (which is still missing) and screamed a blue streak. But, I didn’t come out until I was ready.

I am the MOMMY!!! Sometimes he just cannot have his way. And sometimes Mom needs to lock the door. I won’t feel bad about that either. This may not be the most popular opinion but if he is so angry that he is flipping furniture, I would much rather stay out of the way and deal with him when he is calm.

After the Witching Hour

When the witching hour passes, usually after he has his meds, he can be the sweetest child. One of his favorite things to do, if I am sitting on my bed in my room, is to come in, say turn the lights off, give me a kiss, say good night and close the door. In fact, he just now came in and said, “Time for bed, Mommy. Shut the light and go to sleep.” How’s that for cuteness: being tucked in by a 7 year old.

Recently, a friend commented how very good I am at turning a negative into a positive. That’s true enough. I can see the positive in every situation. But going through the same challenges each day – it’s getting hard.
So here is where I reach out to you, the readers. You all have faced similar issues, I am sure. Perhaps you have an idea for me which I haven’t tried? What works for you when your child is in the witching hour? What doesn’t work?