Monday, November 21, 2011

Is it yelling, screaming, shouting or raising your voice?

Before I had kids I wasn't a yeller and I had a lot of patience! Now I realize that my patience had just never been tested to its extreme before so maybe I wasn't patient at all.

This past weekend was a weekend of yelling. My kids consider it yelling and I consider it raising my voice. I have heard other moms "yell" and I am quiet in comparison, however I am in awe of the mothers who NEVER raise their voice which makes me feel like I'm an ogre. I am pretty stern with my tone, but I don't know how else to get my boys to take me seriously. I am very kind to my boys and I don't say mean things, but I am finding I have to yell more and more. I have tried to speak quietly for years. They don't hear me. I have heard people say if someone is yelling at their kids in public than it must be even worse at home. Not for us. I am the same wherever I go. Isn't consistency the key?

What do you do to keep from yelling? Do you think yelling/raising your voice is a bad thing?

3 comments:

  1. I feel like I am in the same boat as you. If I speak nicely to my boys I am ignored until I snap. I hate yelling and sounding mad, but nothing seems to work and then we all feel bad. I'm caught in a bad cycle. SO I'll pray for us both and the other moms too.

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  2. Don't know that I have any advice to give, but I am here with you. It is a struggle to keep my voice calm, and I feel as if I am definitely in the trap where my kids dn't do what I ask until I raise my voice. Seem days, anyway. Thankful for grace!

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  3. The other side of yelling. Yes, I am get very quiet and very firm with my kids. My oldest use to say "mom you should yell at us for once." I grew up with a mom that yelled and screamed and it made me want to be different because I did not like it. That being said, I am not, or will never ever judge a parents form of getting their kids attention. As long as they are safe, which your boys are. I do use a wooden spoon on the end of a frying pan. The rule is "once you hear that ringing they come and line up." This way I am not yelling through the house to assemble the troops. If they do not come, then there is a consequence. Once they are lined, up which happens quickly I can quietly assert my mominess. They love it, they tell their friends about it. Plus they have seen Sound of Music and feel honored that I use a pot and a spoon.

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