Whispers

Today has been one of those days . . . .

Not a bad day at all but one of those days where you sit back, raise your eyes to the sky and ask whatever is out there is anyone is listening to a single word you are saying.

I do find myself getting very frustrated on those days and it is sometimes a struggle to remember that shouting does not help. They will not respond any more if I am louder. My advice to myself is always:
- their level
- eye contact
- simple and clear
- gain confirmation of understanding

So, the question is does it work? Sometimes. But sometimes they seem to get out of bed with the decision not to listen for the day and nothing I can do seems to affect that. On those days I challenge myself to keep them safe and busy. I do find busy gives them less chance to get into mischief but I do avoid obvious dangerous situations where I can. I have to confess that, at times, I have shouted at the children, I am not proud of myself and I hate myself for doing it but today I have managed to avoid it.

It has been hard, I have lost count of the number of times that I have counted to ten but it has worked. They are in bed, in one piece and they have had a great day.

What I have learnt since the children came to our family is that that often whispers are louder than shouts and they tend to get a better response.