What would change about your day with your kids if you couldn’t speak above a whisper? I found out today.
I had a bit of a cough and sore throat that turned into laryngitis when I woke up this morning. I found myself:
- touching my kids and hugging more
- going to them (instead of -gasp!- yelling across the house for them to come to me) and arresting their attention before speaking, and
- a total lack of arguing.
You know what kind of arguing I mean… “Mommy can I wear the pink dress?” “No honey that one is sleeveless and it’s cold and rainy out, please wear the purple one.” “Mommy I want the pink dress!” “No honey, the shirt you wear under it blahblahblahblah…”
Instead, I let my first “no” be good enough and held firm. I had no other choice, I couldn’t use a bunch of words (that a 4 year old wouldn’t be listening to anyway).
And so she accepted the answer. 
I hope I remember to think more often, “How would I handle this if I couldn’t speak?” I think it would really help me with that parenting goal I set.
Maybe talk really is cheap? 
