MAMA NEEDS A TIME OUT!

 I try hard to keep it together when my kids are tired and having fits. All kids do, so don't judge me for my kids being normal. ;) They have fits over normal (yet still annoying) kid stuff. Having to do chores, not getting what they want right away, their siblings bugging them, waking up early.....I could go on, but I might look back at this and feel like they AREN'T normal fits, so I won't ;)
 I have tried lots of different ideas when it comes to my kids having meltdowns. Walking away, putting in corner, putting on bed to relax until ready to TALK and not WHINE, sitting and rocking them, just sitting with them and lending an ear, mimicking them.....yea that might be something I will look back on and for sure be embarrassed by lol! Hey it worked a few times. They cry, and I pretend to be JUST LIKE THEM! It got them to laugh and fit was long gone. That is something I have only done a couple times, because I don't think it's actually teaching them anything.....just showing them how silly they look.
 Right now I am trying to take them to a chair or couch, sit with them and talk softly so they can barely hear me. This seems to catch their attention and they end up wanting to hear what I'm actually saying. We then talk about whats bothering them and try to fix it.
 I won't lie though, I can't do this every time. I don't even know if I could do this every time with just one child, but it's not happening as much as I'd like with 4. It's exhausting to be the "fixer" all the time. I need a fixer too sometimes!
 There is only so much crying, whining, pouting, eye rolling, and attitude a mom can take. This is when I put myself in time out. I give the kids a project....."draw a picture of the house".......and lay on my bed for 2 or 3 minutes. Gee, wouldn't it be nice if I used the timeout rule with myself?! A minute for every year. I'd love those 26 minutes to myself. Though I'm sure the house would be upside down by the time my timeout was finished.
 The mom timeout does help. I go from feeling like I'm drowning in kids, to "I can do this!" in just a few minutes. I need to remember the mom timeout more. Like before I shout "Is it bedtime yet?!" for the 3rd time. :/