Thank you everyone for your suggestions!

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Tue, Nov 10 2015, 12:48 pm

On a thread from a while ago, a poster asked for suggestions of parenting books to read. I looked through the thread out of curiosity and decided to read some of the highly recommended ones: The Five Love Languages and How to Talk so Kids Will Listen... and some other ones my local library didn't have.

How to Talk So Kids Will Listen and Listen So Kids Will Talk has changed our lives. The atmosphere in my home is calm and respectful. Even when I do get stressed, I know how to express that to my kids without merely exploding at them. Even when I make a mistake, I can get right back on track because the book teaches you a whole attitude, a full approach, not just some techniques with steps to follow.

The reason I came to post today is because of an incident this morning. I was talking to my son and he was (non)responding in an annoyed tone. I said: DS, when I talk to you normally and calmly, I expect you to answer me in a similar manner. When I yell, I can understand that you yell back. Sometimes someone gets nervous and they yell, but now I would appreciate if you just respond normally. His response: Mommy, you never yell.
!!!
I could have hugged him and thanked him a million times over for saying that. But I didn't. I just said: Look, I try not to yell, but sometimes it happens. We both make mistakes, but we try. The goal is everyone in this house should be able to feel safe and say what they want.

So thanks again, everybody for the recommendation to read that book!