Today was a true test. It was the first day I was with the kids for longer than 6 hours.
On Day 1, I shamelessly asked for kudos for my success from my 8-year old, who gave me a reality check. It went lovingly like this.
- [Me: Hey, how did I do on Day 1 of no yelling?]
- [Him: Good! (kiss) (hug) (pause) But we weren’t together all day. You were at work, and I was at school.]
Well, poo poo on you!
(Again, don’t tell the kids. Not supposed to use bathroom words.)
So I wanted to clarify the yell-free thing. I know darn well there will be times I raise my voice in the house. The point is not to be raising my voice in anger.
I’ll give examples.
Example 1: Someone’s heading out the door and I remind them, “Grab a hat!” Because it’s still like 38 degrees outside, and kids think SPRING + ABOVE 30 = SHORTS. What’s wrong with them, anyway?
Example 2: I’m stuck in the bathroom when I hear the phone ring. I shout, “Grab the phone, please!” You KNOW I don’t want to miss those telemarketing calls. BTW – this is rare. Seldom do I have even 1 full minute in the bathroom all by myself. They just don’t want me to be lonely.
Example 3: I’m in the bathroom (with privacy this time), and realize there’s no toilet paper. Not just on the roll, but on the storage thingy next to the toilet (does that have a name? like T.P. Tower, or something?), and none in the nearby cabinet. So I yell, “Can someone bring me toilet paper!?!”
BTW – empty toilet paper rolls are one of my pet peeves. Are you with me? Next to glitter, of course. No, I take that back. Glitter is way higher!!! Another tidbit you probably don’t need to know, but I’m sharing anyway. If someone sends a glittery Christmas card, I gingerly remove it from the envelope, touching the corner only enough to prevent it from falling to my floor and giving me an anxiety attack, read the heartfelt message, and then immediately drop it, along with the envelope (‘cause you know it’s all over that, too) in the trash. It does not make it to my Christmas card string across the fireplace. Don’t hate ME. Hate the glitter. (Hey, that would make a catchy t-shirt! I think I may have filled my gift list!)
While we’re on the T.P. topic, just curious if you must have the roll with the paper under or over? Someone in our house is totally bugged if it’s under. I’m not saying who.
It’s not me.
Not the cat. She would play with it in either direction.
Not the kids either. Just saying…
Absolutely zero yelling in the house? No. But it’s a different kind. Not in anger.
Actually, one of my tactics on this journey has been to remove even those innocent yelling moments. The ones driven by distance. I remind myself to move to the other room to speak directly and calmly to someone to be heard, rather than shout down the hall. Hopefully, this will make it easier to avoid yelling for other reasons. It can’t hurt.
So, if you’re a telemarketer, I won’t be able to yell to someone to take your call. Sorry.
But if you send me an envelope full of glitter, the Heart Monitor below may just blow up!
Heart Monitor: Still making it work on Day 4!
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