I loved your post and I can relate. I've recently been going through a very stressful time--returning to work full time, at a stressful, deadline filled job (journalism) after being home with my kids for years (plus some other things) has raised the stress level in the home considerably. All the things we can't take out in public, gets done under our roof. Well, he woke me up, and being a ten year-old boy, he didn't do it by coming up and gently saying, "I don't want to be late, Mom." :)
No, instead, he remained in his chair in front of the cartoons and screamed up, "MOM! TIME TO WAKE UP!" (he does this all the time).
I tried not to get upset. I tried.... but I got angry. And he got sad.
And I felt so bad because I knew that there was so much more behind my reaction than just his waking me up.
So as we pulled out, I stopped & got out of the car to close the garage. I took a deep breath, closed my eyes, and begged for the strength to be calm, to be a good role model. I opened my eyes and looked at the pine trees in my yard (thinking, how beautiful Creation is), and I felt strengthened.
When I got back in the car, my daughter said, "Were you praying, Mom?"
I said yes ... thanks to Him, we managed to change a negative, energy-draining, stressful morning into a happy, positive start.
He suffered in garden and He suffered on the cross, so my sufferings are nothing in comparison to what He had to endure. :)