Kids will push you. You will yell, you will get angry and feel like you're at the end if your tether. That's so completely normal.

I think it's how you react afterwards that matters. Apologising for losing your temper teaches your child to do the same when they say hurtful things too. I don't think your kids need you to be perfect but they need you to teach them how to recover from their mistakes by showing how you recover from yours.

My personal opinion is that smacking is a lazy way to parent. It's easier to smack and get that instant fear reaction which stops the child doing what you don't want the child to do then trying to think of others ways around the problem. When you have 3 kids underfoot, it's a big ask of a parent. But not impossible.

It's harder as a parent to choose not to smack. To distract, to talk through it, to manage that tantrum with calmness. I know I certainly can't do calmness very well but I do it enough to get through it without smacking. I won't smack. I have 4 kids between 6 and 23 and I've never smacked. So I know it's possible.

I was smacked as a kid. For most of my teens I thought it didn't affect me. Then I had my daughter - one look at her and I knew I'd never raise a hand to her. And yet she has certainly pushed me to my limit in her 23 years. But I maintain that I'd sooner hit a stranger than my own flesh and blood, no matter how 'soft' that smack may be.

Kids don't NEED to be smacked to be taught. So why do it? Why teach your child fear at such a young age? Smacked kids are scared. I have seen it in their eyes too (my sister smacks) and it makes my heart break.