Health & Fitness
STOP YELLING!
Parents often go from 0 to 60 in seconds when dealing with defiant children. Here's an alternative take on communicating with kids.
Hello Patch Parent Readers...
Though I typically blog about our business, Red Mango, I recently wrote a blog for Milwaukeemoms.com that I thought I would also share on this forum. Enjoy!
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Before I had children, I think the last time that I yelled on a regular basis was to my younger brother and sister when I was 16. Once my twins turned into toddlers, my frustrations with them and their defiance turned to yelling when I saw no other solution OR when I went from 0 to 60 before I could calm myself. Now that I am a business owner, I find myself more overwhelmed with the work on top of caring for three children who are all three and under. With that said, I am at 60 more often than I'd like to admit.
I recently read a blog post about a woman's intent to go a full year without yelling at her kids. She said this realization and decision came after she exploded on her children in front of a handy man. This episode provoked her to stop yelling all together after much embarrassment and feeling terrible for hurting her kids' feelings. Much like this blogger, I am usually on my best behavior in public and tend not to yell at my kids in front of others, and grit my teeth instead. However, this blogger pointed out that you don't always have an "audience" of strangers in front of you, but you always have your most important audience with you; your children. So, it's imperative that you be on your best behavior for that audience because their impression and perception of you is most critical. I would whole-heartedly agree with that sentiment and have now taken the same vow as this blogger.
Find out what's happening in Fox Point-Baysidewith free, real-time updates from Patch.
She succeeded in not yelling at her kids for an entire year and her blog post documents the wonderful things that she learned from changing her behavior, all of which were so positive. Though I do not yell at my kids everyday, I am on day #1 of actively not yelling. I set an alarm on my cell phone to go off every morning that reads "NO YELLING!" Everyone needs a reminder to cherish what's most important in life, and for me, it's my children and the way that I communicate with them.
To read the no yelling blog post for yourself, visit: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/the-orange-rhino/10-things-i-learned-when-i-stopped-yelling_b_2886161.html.
