Do You Want To Yell Less and Love More?

The past three days have been very peaceful around here. Not quite, mind you, but peaceful nonetheless. I think that I know why, too. You see, a few days ago, I came across a wonderful blog called The Orange Rhino Challenge. The blog is a chronicle of one mom’s commitment to “Yell less, love more”. Once I read about how not yelling has made a huge difference for both The Orange Rhino and her family, I decided that I, too, want to stop yelling at my kids.

I do my best not to yell, but it happens. I have yet to do the hard work of identifying exactly why I yell, but I have been able to not yell for three whole days. I felt a lot more calm than I have in a long time.Unfortunately, today I slipped up. I shouted, not just once but a couple of times. Come to think of it, I am not even sure exactly why I shouted, but I did and I feel terrible about it. Of course I apologized to the kiddos, but I still feel terrible.

Tomorrow is another day, another chance to refrain from yelling at my two little guys. I know that it won’t be easy, but if I have learned anything from the past three days prior to today it is this – not yelling feels good. It feels good for my kids, it feels good to me, and everything just goes much more smoothly – even the crazy moments. Things like poop accidents from someone who hasn’t had a poopy diaper for nearly ten months, knock down drag out tantrums from a fifteen month old when he does not get his way, and even attempts to stall at bedtime are no match for a calm and collected parent. No, those little messes (no pun intended) are much easier to navigate without a dark storm cloud of angry yelling complicating matters further.

If you shout at your kids and you would like to stop, check out The Orange Rhino Challenge. The Orange Rhino has great tips for how to stop yelling, as well as inspiring stories from her everyday life about how not yelling has caused beautiful things to happen for her family. Don’t worry, the Orange Rhino is refreshingly real – she shares honest stories about the things that drive her to the edge, as well as the methods that she uses to pull herself back.

Image courtesy of The Orange Rhino.