First day

My first day of attempting to not yell went just as I thought and at the same time differently. I was pretty sure I would slip up at least once and unfortunately I did, but at the same time I hoped beyond hope that I could in fact make the whole day and even have a huge long streak of not yelling because I set my mind to it. Well, here's to tomorrow.

Some things that I learned on this first day:

Be in the moment
We hear this all the time. But today because I was paying special attention to this goal I quickly realized that if I was trying to do something else while my children needed my, my attention was elsewhere and I felt myself getting impatient fast. Usually this was me reading something on my phone that could definitely wait until later. The time that I did yell I was driving and my son kept asking me the same question over and over and over and I kept saying yes until it came out a yell. Opps... At least that is all it was. Right?

Happier in general
Because I was avoiding yelling I would try to smile more and being in the moment meant I was playing with my children better. I wasn't distracted. I was being proactive. It made me think and try to prevent even from being angry because it is easier and better to prevent anger then to stifle it in the moment

Physically took more effort
I found that in order to proactively prevent things that I KNEW would set me off I had to get off my bum a bit more and DO things. I wouldn't call myself lazy but I did notice that I wouldn't have gotten up otherwise. For instance, my 1 year old (Blossom) was taking a nap. She is a VERY light sleeper and yesterday my 3 year old (Bud)shutting the bathroom door woke her up. Frustrating!! So today when he went to the bathroom and I heard him open it I quickly got up and told him that we should just leave it open for now so as not to wake the baby (and really upset Mom).

Not the mental exhaustion I expected
I was for SURE that having to CONSTANTLY thing about not getting angry would cause mental or decision fatigue. It may have but it didn't feel like it. It was more of a delightful challenge. I could feel myself pushing myself just outside of my limits. But because it was in a positive way and with positive results it wasn't exhausting.

Naturally problem solved
An example was when Bud didn't want Blossom to play with him (a very common occurrence) I said, "I will play with you!" and I could see Bud's wheels turn in his head. Later he was more open and willing to all play together.

After I told my friend about my slip up she brought up that mornings usually go great but around mid afternoon and beyond she gets more snippy because she gets tired and worn. I couldn't agree more! I was about to fall asleep for a nap right before I got in the car and yelled YES at Bud. I was tired and done for the day. So I still don't know what to do about that but knowledge is power and I can brain storm. Maybe a quick workout. Maybe implement family quiet time.