Remember the days when a short sharp slap across the legs was considered a solid parental strategy? It might seem cruel and punitive these days, but not too long ago smacking was seen as a reliable tool in the parenting toolkit. The good news is that these days it’s illegal to use violence as a parenting strategy (whew) but the bad news is that in the absence of lashing out physically, a whole lot of frustrated parents are lashing out and yelling instead.
If you find yourself yelling at the kids every now and again, you’re not alone. Parenting is tiring and frustrating and when we get tired and frustrated, we resort to yelling and screaming at each other. But just like smacking, yelling doesn’t work. In fact, it could cause even greater harm.