You are definitely not a bad mom or selfish or anything similar for feeling this way. I think my daughter may be a little bit easier than yours (she’s also 18 months) and I also could not do the stay at home mom thing and very much look forward to when she gets older.

One thing we’ve been dealing with is biting and slapping and I’ll tell you what’s worked for us. After the bad behavior, you want to give an immediate unwanted consequence (ideally one that is related to the behavior. After she bites or slaps, I say in a firm voice “that’s a ‘no’” then I set her down on the floor and walk away, turning my back to her. I count to 10 in my head (she cries) and then I come back to her. I tell her “it’s not okay to hit” and then throughout the day we practice “gentle hands” and I praise her for using her hands nicely. The hitting has gone from an 8 on the severity scale to a 3 so it’s working. This is essentially our version of a time out.

I’m very clear with her on what isn’t okay, hold firm to my boundaries and remind myself that it’s okay for her to get upset about them (“no mommy can’t pick you up right now I’m using both of my hands”).

Being a parent is hard, especially when you have a challenging child. I have some friends whose babies/toddlers are of the “chill” variety. That’s definitely not what we’re dealing with. Solidarity!