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My editor forwarded me a nice post about a mother who whispered for a whole week and how it changed her life. I wonder if she was trying to tell me something?Writer Vanessa Bell wonders, “How do we get to the point where our blood curdles over and we’re yelling at our kids? In an attempt to understand why I yelled, I decided to stop for a week… and try whispering instead.” She found that when she stopped yelling she had better focus, her kids had less tantrums, she was less distracted, more laid back and her kids seemed happier. I was going to try this today as a little test, but the universe wanted me to try something different – because just as I was about to start my experiment,THE GODDAMN GARDNER SHOWED UP WITH A LEAF BLOWER. MY MOTHER IS ALREADY PRETTY HARD OF HEARING, SO WHEN I SWEETLY ASKED IF SHE COULD FEED THE BABY LUNCH, SHE SCREAMED, “WHAT?” I TRIED AGAIN, AND SHE JUST LOOKED AT ME LIKE I WAS THE BIGGEST ASSHOLE ON THE PLANET. “ARE YOU WHISPERING? WHY ARE YOU WHISPERING?” IT WAS THEN I DECIDED TO YELL FOR AN HOUR TO SEE WHERE THAT GOT ME.FIRST OF ALL, EVERYONE IN THE HOUSE COULD HEAR ME OVER THE ANNOYING SOUNDS OF THE LEAF BLOWER, WHICH WAS A BONUS. IT ALSO SEEMED TO GIVE MY TODDLER A BURST OF ENERGY. HE WAS FILLED WITH GLEE WHEN I SCREAMED – “HEY KID! WANNA WATCH WALLYKAZAM SO YOU CAN GET OUT OF MY HAIR AND I CAN GET SOME WORK DONE?” HE SCREAMED “YEEEESSSSSSS!”HIS FATHER CAME TO PICK HIM UP AND I SCREAMED, “HI HONEY! HE’S HAD LUNCH AND IS PROBABLY READY FOR A NAP!” HE LOOKED AT ME LIKE I WAS HIGH – AND SUGGESTED I HAVE MORE COFFEE, WHICH WAS FUNNY. I CHUCKLED. LOUDLY. MY SON WAS GODDAMN GIDDY WHEN HE LEFT THE HOUSE. HE WAS ALSO SCREAMING, BUT NOT MY PROBLEM BECAUSE HIS FATHER IS TAKING CARE OF HIM FOR THE REST OF THE DAY WHILE I WORK. SO HERE’S WHAT I LEARNED FROM AN HOUR OF YELLING:READ THE REST ON MOMMYISH...
