My husband said if I would just stop overreacting and be a better mother, everything would be all right.

Can you use this same passage to used as a rehetorical device? (a down player)

Yes. The words have little meaning, but convey an attitude that is an attempt to diminish another.

Overreacting? To what? Is it overreacting?

A better mother? Better than what?

Everything all right? What does that really mean?

http://www.englishbiz.co.uk/extras/rhetoricalexamples.htm