Whispering

My kids and I have recently moved into our own place, this has been a very big adjustment for us. They went from a stressful environment to Grandmas house which as you all know mean very few restrictions because Grandma and Grandpa hardly ever say “No”. This also means this is the first time I’ve ever really been alone with my kids all the time, usually we had Dad or the Grandparents there to help out when the kids got overly fussy and or tired. I have always been a big believer in time out, we call it chill out in my house. Over the last week I have found that since I’m being pulled in multiple directions between kids housework and career I haven’t had the patience to use the chill out method even though in reality I could probably use a few minutes chilling out. I was faced with my reality when I was making dinner one night. I had put on a cartoon set the kids up at the table with some crayons and a coloring book, about 15 minutes into this the kids got bored and Bug got up from the table and started playing her very most favorite game “Ice” which is putting socks on her hands and feet and sliding across the kitchen floor.  Boo who isn’t quite big enough to get down from the table alone starting whining because his sister was playing and he wasn’t. I got him down and they started playing Ice together well our kitchen isn’t very big and before you know it they are running into each other and me and the cupboards and Boo is starting to cry because Bug is pushing him. I lost my cool and yelled “Get out of my kitchen right now!” They both looked at me with hurt eyes and sulked off to terrorize another room of the house. After they left I started to feel bad so I went and gave each of them a hug and apologized for yelling. I explained that I was making dinner and If they wanted to help they could otherwise they needed to play in the living room and we could play after dinner. It was at that moment I realized I really had let my parenting slide over the last few months while I was dealing with my own issues. I have decided to try a whispering method, when I find myself getting ready to scream at the kids I take 10 seconds and a deep breath then I kneel down next to them and whisper. This method has proved effective so far I have still yelled a couple times but we are working through it. I have found that this when i yell the kids tune me out but when I whisper it gets there attention and they know I'm serious.