Humbled in Prayer

I never thought I would end up being a mom who yelled at her children. At least not every day. After all, it took us so long to have children in the first place, why wouldn't I treasure every minute?
That was before my children started asking "why" all day long. Or refusing to nap. Or yelling at each other (something I know they probably learned from me yelling at them).
I probably don't yell as much as I think I do, but I do give in to my frustration enough that I notice it and am aware that I am doing it more. Part of it is because I let myself be obligated to so many things that I don't leave enough time, and then I get stressed out and it overflows onto my family. I'm sure we all do that to a point. It's something I'm trying to figure out how to work on. But it's not the main point of this post.
As I was praying before sleep the other night, I was asking God to forgive me for doing the same things over and over again, for asking the same questions, for not following Him like I should, etc. And it hit me. I'm asking God to forgive me for basically the same things I've been yelling at my children for. When I lose my temper at my children because they ask me "why," and then turn around and ask God the same question, how can that be right? Especially when I know He won't turn and snap at me that He's already answered that question and why didn't I listen to the answer. It sank in that if I'm going to emulate anyone as I try to be a better parent, I need to be more like Him. Other parents are great to get advice from or vent to, but we always need to be trying to be more like our Heavenly Father.
It's something I'm working on. How about you? How do you keep yourself from losing your temper at your children? How do you try to be more like the perfect parent?