What's With the Yelling...

I wish I were the mom that does not yell at her children. Yes, I am admitting to losing it sometimes. I guess my hopes are that by yelling I will grab their attention, maybe startle them a little; and then they will...be perfect children listening to everything I say. Again, in a perfect world. Well, actually, the perfect world would be not feeling compelled to yell in the first place.
With Kai and Si, it seems they just feed off of one another: and in doing so, the volume and irritation gets louder and louder.

But as I catch myself yelling more often, I notice a few things:
1) that I don't like to yell
2) that they don't listen to me anyways
3) generally it makes me feel like crap and I get a little more "flustered"
4) and that really, all my yelling does is...wire them up even more.

When I get to the point of yelling, rarely does it do any good....most often it actually backfires.

I am going to try with everything I have to not be the mom that yells. That with all my composure I will try and find another medium..that may actaully, work!?

What have you found that actually makes your children listen? What do you do in those "moments" to get their attention...and that doesn't leave you feeling like the worst mom in the world?

Tomorrow night my husband and I are actaully off to see a lady in regards to child discipline. This shall be interesting. We are looking for some new, effective ways to discipline our kids that not only will they listen to, but that they can grow and develop constructively from.

I will let you know what we learn.

But please, share your thoughts!!