Trying to get two kids ready for school in the morning can make any mother frustrated. Apparently one in Florida got so annoyed last week that, as the St. Pete Times reports, she bit her 5-year-old son on the cheek. Now she faces a charge of child abuse. 
The mom, identified as Zhifang Chen, allegedly was angry with her son for eating his breakfast too slowly. She told police she "was just playing around" when she bit the boy, but his teacher reported the incident because the child had visible teeth marks on his cheek when he came to school. Chen is being held in jail without bond; the story doesn't say where the children currently are.
Clearly, most of us probably wouldn't characterize a bite that severe as "playing around." But I dare say that many of us have occasionally gotten mad enough at our kids to find ourselves teetering on the line that separates in-control parents from ones who totally lose their cool and do something regrettable.
In those situations, what do you do to stay calm (besides, you know, opting not to sink your teeth into your child)? I'm a big proponent of something I'll call inside-voice cursing: pausing for a moment, closing your eyes and screaming curse words in your head where, unless your son or daughter is one of those weird, telepathic kids from some lousy horror movie, the little one can't hear them. Yeah, it's kind of lame. But as an anger management technique, it sure as hell beats biting.
