So, it’s been a week. Are you wondering if I’ve kept my word to stop screaming?

Well, I haven’t been perfect. But I been surprisingly good. Giving up yelling actually didn’t feel like I was giving up anything at all. It felt like freedom.

I feel like I’ve woken up and taken a valium every morning. Without the possibility of screaming, my blood no longer rises. Confrontations no longer escalate until my heart is beating in my chest and my face is red.

Instead I have to get creative in order to get my point across.

Sometimes, I am good. One morning instead of screaming at Jack to get dressed for the zillionth time, I sat down with him and tried to figure out what the stop up was. Turns out he couldn’t decided what to wear. So we did a little process of elimination and he happily got dressed shortly after that. I felt very happy I dodged what could have been a tense moment.

Sometimes, I am bad. If you can’t yell, you find other forms of punishment. And in the absence of yelling, those other forms of punishment happen more often. Seeing how great it is to stop yelling, I wish I could eradicate the other forms of punishment too. Unfortunately, I don’t think it’s possible to get rid of all the uncomfortable and dreadful moments of raising kids.