I have never been a yeller. Ok except for when I was younger and wanted to get my brother in trouble. That doesn’t really count though right? People yelling at eachother makes me incredibly uncomfortable.
Lately I have started yelling and it doesn’t make me happy. It seems like I have to yell to be heard over kids arguing either with eachother or me. This seems to have gotten really bad lately. It’s like they think everything I tell them is wrong or not nearly as important as what they are saying. It’s very frustrating.
Mostly it is when they are arguing with eachother and I ask them to be quiet and listen to me. I start by asking them nice and calmly. Then by the 3rd time, I am yelling, “I SAID STOP ARGUING AND LISTEN TO ME!!!”.
I don’t buy into the philosophy that children should be seen and not heard. I want my children to be independant and feel like what they have to say matters (while being respectful of others). I just don’t want them to always argue. I’m at a loss as to how to resolve the issue without yelling. It feels like that’s the only way to get them to hear/pay attention to me. There has got to be a better way. They have to know that sometimes they are not always right. Sometimes even if they are right, it just isn’t that big of a deal. That sometimes things just aren’t fair. And darn it, I’m the Mom that’s why!
Hopefully this is just a phaze. Maybe this is payback for arguing with my own brother. Maybe I am raising lawyers.
