How One Word Helped Me Stop Yelling at My Kids

Tired of nagging your little humans? Try using just one word instead.

You know how pretty much every morning (or afternoon, or evening, or midnight) you find yourself saying, “I swear, if I have to tell [insert kid’s name here] to [insert action here] ONE MORE TIME I’m going to [insert violent and unnatural event here].”

Whether it’s telling Mason to put away her shoes, or telling Jace to set the table, every parent has times when they feel like a broken record and it’s annoying. Heaven knows you have at least thirty-seven other things to worry about at any given moment that don’t include trying to think of some other way to tell Alex again to put his dishes in the dishwasher.

You’ve probably tried threats: “If you don’t start that load of laundry in the next five minutes, NO SCREENS for the rest of the day!”

(They’re probably empty threats.)

You’ve tried bribery: “I’ll make you a deal. If you have your room cleaned before I get home, we’ll order pizza for dinner.”

(This gets expensive. Trust me, I know.)

And you’ve tried begging: “Please just do the dishes? Please? It’ll only take you ten minutes! PLEASE JUST DO THE DISHES!”