Thoughts from a pediatrician, wife and boy Mom to three

Finding Calm in the Chaos: Reflections from a Boy Mom and Pediatrician

At Maeville Pediatrics, we care for children every day – but we also care deeply about the parents behind them. I often remind families that parenting is a journey of growth for both children and adults. Today, I’m sharing a personal reflection -not as a pediatrician, but as a mom of three boys who is still learning how to find calm in the middle of everyday chaos.

Tonight, I’m sitting here nursing my seven-month-old after another long day. I just finished apologizing – again – for raising my voice at my older boys. They didn’t want to listen, and every little thing set me off: the running around during dinner, the endless noise, the bedtime battles.

Now the house is finally quiet. And as often happens in these moments, I start asking myself questions that keep me up long past when I should be sleeping.

Why do I get so frazzled?

Did having a third baby stretch my patience too thin?

Am I failing to give my older boys what they need?

Motherhood has a way of magnifying every insecurity. During the day, I crave quiet. But when it finally comes, my mind fills the silence with guilt and self-doubt.

Yet even in this exhaustion, I know I wouldn’t trade a thing. I wouldn’t give up a single one of my boys. They each bring life, laughter, and lessons I didn’t know I needed.

The real question I’m learning to ask is this: How can I find peace even when my boys are just being boys?

Being a boy mom has forced me to look at my own need for control—the expectation that others should behave the way I would. But they’re not me. They’re kids with energy, curiosity, and big emotions of their own.

What I’m realizing in these late-night reflections is that I need to set limits—not just for them, but for myself. I need boundaries that give me space to reset and moments of calm built into the rhythm of our days. Because I can’t pour patience from an empty cup.

Learning to self-regulate in the middle of their chaos might just be one of the hardest—and most important—skills of motherhood. And maybe that’s the real work right now: not trying to control every moment, but finding grace in the ones that don’t go perfectly.

We’re all learning as we go, mama.

And tonight, I’m reminding myself that’s okay. 💙