Silence

I thought I would share two separate experiences where silence was golden in rearing my children.

1. A few weeks back as I was picking Delaney up from a playdate, she created a stir when it was time to leave. Not only did she not say goodbye to her sweet hostess but made a scene while getting into the car. In that moment, I had a rush of disappointment, along with other emotions, so I chose to be silent until I had the right words to talk through what had happened and how the behavior was not acceptable. The silence was a choice to cool my temper not a tool for discipline.

The silence lasted about four hours and felt like days. Delaney also struggled with me not talking to her. After some time, I asked her why she thought I was upset, making her logically talk through why the behavior was not acceptable nor was it polite.

1. Recently, while I was preparing lunch for the girls, they were playing with a ball in the house. I asked them repeatedly to stop and they ignored me. I made a proclamation out loud, “I am done, you are not listening to me, I am not asking anymore, I am done.”, and I walked away. I  shut my door quietly and just sat in my reading chair. Before I had to time to relax, the girls were at the door, knocking, apologetic for their actions and agreed to stop. In that moment I realized, this type of discipline worked well. Why had I not used it more often, instead of yelling or becoming frustrated?

The next time you are struggling to get the reaction you want out of your little people, try the silent treatment.