[jmom1984]

I heard the girls start to fight over a toy in the next room this morning. Usually this means that the 2yo snatches something from the 4yo, and then the 4yo starts screaming for her to give it back, and then the monkey-see-monkey-do 2yo screams back. And they are girls, they have the high pitched scream thing perfected in such a way that makes your ears ring. Sometimes I join in with my own yelling (which is why I'm here of course!), but I have been trying so hard to pause long enough to collect myself first, and then try to teach some conflict resolution. So today, what I heard from the other room was my 4yo dd asking her sister calming to give it back, and when she didn't, she called, "Mommy... Can you come here? I need help fixing a problem!" I almost cried, tbh, I was so happy that she remembered something I taught

Just thought I would share that as a success story to encourage us all. Great things happen when you curb the yelling and keep your cool.

ETA The first thing I thought was how this would not have been possible if my parenting style was to punish them for fighting. The teachable moment would have been lost, and they would have learned nothing. I am so thankful for GCM.