Carnegie Hill Mom

Parenting while sick is no joke. My kids are pretty aware of how monstrous I can become at the end of a long day on my feet. Add to that my headache, congestion, and runny nose (We're on day four now!) and my patience for disobedience and dawdling at bedtime is stretched as thin as a thread. When my three-year-old pushed away her carrot, even though that's the vegetable she requested ("Mom, can you put carrots on my plate for dinner?), I told her she needed to take a bite and then she could be done. "Why are you not a good mom?" my five-year-old asked in response. I was stunned at her comment. "Do you even realize what you're saying?" I asked her. Clearly she didn't. She was probably trying to say something like, "Why are you being so strict?" or even, "Why are you being so mean?" Either of those wouldn't have stung so much. "I am a good mom," I replied, coming to my defense. "I feed my kids a healthy ...