Signs of sleep deprivation creeping into family life as a CEO/CXO/Leader?

I was so short tempered with my kids.

It’s one of those things people rarely say.

We’re supposed to be infinitely patient and always keep the big picture in mind.

To be honest that’s hard at the best of times.

Add in sleep deprivation and bunch of work I have to get done for tomorrow and no realistic time to do it where the kids aren’t present and it’s ridiculously challenging or it was for me at least.

I love them of course and we have loads of fun together.

But seriously, stop the drama!!

Do your homework without all the yelling.

Get ready for bed without it taking 2 hours.

Get dressed in the morning so we can actually get to school in a timely fashion.

Eat your dinner. You ate that exact dinner last week and you said you loved it. Eat tiny human eat!

I don’t do that anymore.

I’m not triggered by anything they say.

I don’t get angry or frustrated.

I mean never say never but it’s been a long time.

The kids even say it.

Daddy NEVER gets angry.

I used to think the answer was resistance of my emotional impulse but it wasn’t.

I had to look at each of my expectations and see through them.

I had to look at my parenting strategies (if you can call them that) and expose them to myself. A funnier exercise than you might think.

This was pretty life changing for me and in more ways than just parenting and having happier kids.

I’ve also got more energy and less stress.

Your kids are going to become what you model not what you tell them to become. Parenting isn’t about mastering your kids, is about mastering yourself. That’s what I’ve found anyway, eventually.