I smashed my son’s phone & forced him to walk 3 miles home – it’s extreme but ‘mum rage’ is part of raising kids

MUM-of-three Roxy Bond  might look like the picture-perfect mum but she admits that  bouts of rage have led her to smash up her son’s phone and make him walk three miles home.

She is mum to boys  Ethan,  15, and William, 13, as well as daughter Gracie, eight.

Mum-of-three Roxy Bond admits that bouts of rage have led her to smash up her son’s phone

Roxy, 33, lives in South Wingfield, Derbys, with husband Chris, 47, a support services manager and Gracie’s father and says she instantly feels guilty after losing her temper.

The social media company owner says: “Having “mum rage” is part and parcel of raising kids because they push buttons.

But each time I fly off the handle, I feel awful afterwards.
I beat myself up and ask myself how I could’ve handled the situation better.

Perhaps I could’ve talked things through with them, or I should have taken myself off to calm down.

By shouting and screaming at the kids, I know, I’m not setting the right example. But staying calm isn’t always easy.

The rage crept in when Ethan became a teenager and he started challenging my parenting decisions.

During one stand-off over tidying his room, I took his phone away but he carried on answering back so I smashed it into pieces on the floor.

I was shocked and upset with myself afterwards. With hindsight, it was an extreme thing to do.

It ended up costing me £150 for a replacement a week later because I like Ethan to have a phone in case of an emergency.

Another time, I got so annoyed about him coming out of school late that I drove away, leaving him to walk the three miles home. If he and William have an argument, I wade in.

How I react depends how tired I am or if I’m feeling stressed. I take their phones away in anger.

When the boys refuse to come off their computers, it drives me nuts. I give them 15, ten and five-minute warnings but they still push the boundaries.

Now I have an app on my phone that connects to a plug socket in their room. I use it to switch off their Xbox and PlayStation if they don’t do as they’re told.

There have been times I’ve lost my cool then taken myself off to bed to sulk. It’s ridiculous but every mum has a trigger.

I’m a softer touch with Gracie, probably because she’s my youngest and final child.

She gets away with more than the other two and we don’t butt heads as much.

That might change, though, when she reaches her teenage years and the hormones kick in.”