When the children start to yell, my stress level goes up to. As the boys are throwing food from the backseat to the front seat, hitting me in the head with the chicken nugget I just bought them, I just want to scream. Do you ever feel that way? The problem is, when we as parents lose our cool, we teach our kids the wrong thing.

How To Keep Your Cool

Before I had children, people said I had great patience. Now that I have four children, my patience seems to have gotten less and less. However, I do not want to spend all my time yelling at my children. It is bad for me and it is bad for them. So here is what I have done.

#1 -- Take a deep breath and count to 10 slowly. If you cannot count to 10 slowly, then start over until you can. Not only does this teach your children a method to control their emotions appropriately, it also gives you time to think before you speak.

#2 -- Lift your head up, put your shoulders back, and take a deep breath. By changing your physiology you can change your attitude. This can put you in the right mindset to be a success with your kids it not only will it change your attitude, but it will change your response to your children. This is what it means to love your children.

#3 -- if all else fails, run! No, not really and not very far. But you do get the idea. You need to find a place where you can step away and leave your children safe for just a short amount of time. Often, by removing ourselves from the situation we can't allow ourselves to calm down. The priority has to be the safety and well-being of your children.

The art of parenting is anything but an art. It is a process of learning how to raise your children to be the type of people you want to be. The goal is not perfection, but it is to have a child that will have a meaningful contribution to society.