starting over

A week or so ago, I was upstairs and I could hear Truett and Jem yelling at each other downstairs. I found myself cringing at the volume and tone of their voices as they argued over sharing the chair in front of the computer. I decided that it might be a good time to talk to them about how they speak to one another and to let them in on my goal of not yelling anymore.
So we sat down around our dining room table and talked about speaking with kindness. I told them that I was going to try really hard to not yell at them anymore but that there might be times when it still happened. I told them that anytime I started to yell they could say, "red dragon" to me as a reminder. (I took this idea from the orange rhino post I wrote about a few weeks ago.) I also told them that when they started yelling I was going to say, "little dragon" to them as a reminder.
The week went well. There were times when I could feel myself getting amped up but trying to take deep breaths or pausing before responding seemed to help. It was also helpful for me to notice times and events that seemed to bring out the desire to yell. Meal times and any time we are trying to get out the door seem rather stressful. I also don't handle impatience well in my kids. You know, when they ask you for something and you respond with "in a minute" and they continue to ask you every five seconds? Yeah, apparently I'm not a fan.
But it was still a good week. And then Sunday happened. Sunday did not go well so Monday became the new starting point of my 30-day challenge to not yell. Two days down. Twenty eight to go.

picture from:tvtropes.org