What do you do when you feel like running away?

[MooPointCowsOpinion]

I’ve had a really crappy afternoon, I picked a family activity and my kids were absolute rotters and ruined everything I tried. I lost my temper and cried as we got back to the car to go home, I feel pretty ashamed of myself.
This isn’t exactly how I expected life at 32 to be... I have a wonderful job, home, and a husband and kids who need me. But I feel like just running away, and it’s not the first time I’ve felt like this.
Does anyone else ever feel like this? What do you do to snap out of it?

Read!

Go for a walk or take a day off and go into the local city to a gallery and shops.

I don’t often get the chance to get away - dh works away. I stay at home with 2 year old dd and dog. I struggle badly and whatever time I get to myself I try to spend doing something I like (sudoku, watching programmes dh doesn’t like, drawing, reading).

OkayGo that sounds hard. Drawing sounds good, I can’t draw well but I could perhaps do some colouring in a really nice book someone got me a few years ago.
My husband is here but he’s not exactly taking half the emotional load and our kids are hard work right now, I’m just so done with it.

Tell your DH you need a day off, urgently. Stay in bed and read or go out and mooch about, but get some time to yourself - a good chunk of time. You’re important.

No doubt someone will be along in a minute to tell you to take a spa day

I also feel like this sometimes. Sometimes I do something about it, sometimes I don't and I wait for it to pass. I find it really hard to know when to take time for myself before I feel like this. I end up feeling like it then it takes more to get me back in track. I enjoy a bath with a candle and some music followed by TV I like and cuddling up under a blanket on the sofa. Sometimes the only thing that works is a good sleep though. Take each day as it comes and if you need to, take the time you need. Your partner will just have to cope for a bit!!

go for a run

seriously, go outside, walk a bit, sit in a park or cafe to read a bit without distraction and enjoy the time on your own.

Spin works for me. There's nothing quite like being in a dark room with the disco lights and the tunes blaring. My only thought is when am I going to die.
It always clears my head and makes me feel great.

MooPoint

Yes definitely get yourself some nice pencils (I actually love crayola and I’m an artist haha) and a good colouring book and just have a scribble. Even if it’s just filling in a few blocks with colour and then turning the page. It doesn’t have to be perfect or a work of art, just colouring in spaces can be satisfying.

when until they're asleep and then go look at them, sounds twee i know but i really love them when they're asleep!

*wait

Minor running away: go for an actual run. Running has changed my life. It forces me to forge out time to myself several times a week.

Major running away: every 3-4 months I book myself a night in a hotel alone. It’s bliss. Read, long bath, dinner alone. Perfect.

After either option, I come back refreshed and ready to face the world again.

MsJaneAusten I love running too, but my joints are playing up so I’ve been at the gym a few times a week instead, mostly rowing instead. I could do a gentle jog tomorrow morning though, love a crisp September morning!

If you can't run, go for a walk or hike in the countryside

get some hard core exercise- it solves any frustration and then when you're calm reflect on what has led you to this and fix it

I’m afraid for me the answer is smoke secret emergency cigarettes, even though you quit months ago and are now hooked again.

I do not recommend this approach.

But hey, I’m in for another sleepless night cleaning up toddler sick and poo so fuck it. I’ll quit next week!

I’ve had my moments. I’ve realized that I don’t want to run away. That feeling happens when I need a break. I’ve actually needed a break for a long time and haven’t gotten it.

Of course, life doesn’t always give us breaks. I try to take them more often though. Occasionally I tell my dd that mommy needs a time out. I may not have lost my temper from my family’s perspective, but my brain is screaming inside. Just like with a kid, a time out isn’t necessarily a punishment. It can simply be a need for a few minutes of calm.

I have the occasional day where I just have to tell DH that I need to go aimlessly walk around the craft store or get myself a coffee because I need to leave the house and it’s reminders of all I need to do behind.

Things like spa days and weekends away would be great too, but with an autistic child they just aren’t realistic. So I have taken to trying to pay attention to when I need those mini breaks.

Oh how I wish we could edit. I meant to say that feeling comes when I am overdue for a break, not that I haven’t gotten once recently.

I used to go a drive to the library, ten mins away.... At the end of the ten mins I'd have seen sense and calmed down, but I needed the break from the house to see it.

I stare into space and whisper "fuck off" repeatedly and without a doubt within 4 seconds one of my dcs will be walling "mummmeeeeeeee" and I'll snap back into mum mode. I used to envisage getting on a random bus and just staying on it until it terminated and half wished it crashed on the way. So whispering fuck off is an improvement