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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
Lifestyle
Carly Earl

66 days to be a calmer parent: ‘I’m sure this will be very easy’

Carly Earl lying down with hands in prayer position and toy pieces over her eyes, beside two children
Carly Earl: ‘When my kids won’t get dressed after being asked 48 times, instead of getting more frustrated and more elevated I will choose to take a moment, slow down and figure out another way of communicating.’ Photograph: Blake Sharp-Wiggins/The Guardian

Becoming a calmer parent has long been at the top of my list of life goals – but then so has becoming physically stronger, and I’ve never lifted a dumbbell.

I have two small children, one is five and the other 18 months. One is demanding physically and the other emotionally. Mornings often start about 5.30am, the increasing volume of the cry of “mummmmmmy” marking the starting gun for the daily race to get out of the house fully clothed and at least partially fed. At times it seems almost too easy but on other days every step towards our front door is met by a roadblock and I get increasingly frustrated until I break and shout, rushing the little people out the door and arriving at work flustered.

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