Im so fed up, think ive reached my limit?

first of all relax breathe, your a good mom everyone has there days that they just feel like they can't take it anymore and snap. just remember when you get like that to remove yourself from the situation tell your self when you feel you have reached your limit, you said yourself you have fairly good kids. just remember you need you time for you too and remember your special working full time and taking care of 2 children by yourself. good luck i hope that helped!

Sounds as if your a great mum! Hang in there boys are hard to bring up but they are very loyal to their mum's and will forgive all very quickly.

Sweetheart, you need a break away from the kids! Is there anyone who can take care of them for a few hours so you can just relax and re-charge? If you can, ask a parent of one of their friends if they can come to them for dinner one evening (you can reciprocate another evening) or even have a sleep over - and either have a 'spa' evening at home, or if you can afford it, book yourself in for a spa. You need some time to yourself otherwise you are going to explode. Please try and do something like this... for your own sanity, as well as the kids. Good luck.

Nobody is perfect and bein a parent doesn't come with an instruction manual! We all have our bad days, do you have any friends who are mum's too who you could talk to? I find this really helps me when I am feeling down as it reassures you that its not just you going through these things its just part of being a parent. Maybe you need to make a bit more time for yourself, get a babysitter and have a night out now and again. Nobody expects you to be super woman so just take some time out and chill, it won't kill anyone if you leave the washing up in the sink or forget to do the hoovering! And don't beat yourself up about shouting at ur kids, its done now and you've apologised. We all do it sometimes.

I've been there. Seeking counseling for my children and myself really helped. They still don't get things done when I tell them, but sooner or later they end up doing them.

I haven't seen one answer that adresses the real issue here, all touchey feeley stuff. You have done nothing wrong in repremanding the boys. However, I do see several red flags. First, you felt guilty after repremanding them and apologized. This is a huge sign of weakness to them. You need to be firm, fair and stand your ground. Second, it seems that either because you have post repremand feelings of guilt either you roll back punishments, or don't assign any to begin with. The boys need to face consequences for their bad actions or for ignoring orders to do things. You need to be steadfast in your resolve, and set up consequences if they misbehave or do not follow through on chores etc. Start slow with no Tele, or no games, and ramp it up if things do not improve. Do not ever think they are going to stop loving you, that will not happen. They may be angry at you, but thats a good thing, leave them get mad. Its all part of the learning process. If you do not put into place consequences for unacceptable behaviour, then you just enable them to continue to be disobedient and/or insulent to you. Hope this is a lesson to other women as to the consequences and difficulties of single motherhood. Good luck.

talk to your kids and tell them? just tell them how you are feeling and that they need to help out sometimes, they probally don't realise and take you for granted

You just need a plan. Without a plan, everything is chaos. I have 9 (yes 9) children. I use a point system in my home - for every chore they complete (without being reminded) they earn points. They can NOT watch TV, play video games, or go outside to play unless they "pay" for the privilege with their points. It is working wonders. Now, instead of yelling at them to do their chores, I just say "do you want to earn enough points to stay up after 7pm?". If they misbehave, I take points away. Instead of yelling at them, I just say "bummer - that will be 50 points for hitting your brother", then they may not have enough points to do everything they want to do that night. If they can save up to 500 points, they can turn in those points for $10. Also, I have them pay for anything they break or lose. Why should you have to replace things that they break? They can earn extra points for doing extra chores and helping around the house without being asked. If they need to pay you for something they broke, not only will they lose points for doing the deed, they will need to pay to have the item repaired or replaced, so they will either have to earn multiples of 500 points, or go mow lawns or find another way to earn the money. It's definately a challenge, but it is doable. You might want to check with your local college for behavior modification classes, or ask behavior modification students to help you work out a plan for your kids (if you can't afford a therapist). Therapists are great for giving ideas, and for listening to you vent!

First off all I have to say: YOU ARE SO BRAVE!! And you don't have to feel bad because off how you acted today, I think every mom gets that sometimes. Try to get a day without your kids and do something just for yourself. The apology is a good idea. It was mean to scare them like that. There will be better times!!