Rachel Stafford's Essay 'The Important Thing About Yelling'

In Rachel Stafford’s article, “The Important Thing About Yelling,” the struggles of parenting are talked about in a mature, advancing way as Stafford shares her own experience yelling past. Understanding the cause and effects of yelling is important for understanding the ways to go about parenting without making your kids afraid of you. Stafford shares her experience of becoming a “yeller” because of all the distractions in her life. This affected her kids view of her, to be a scary, unforgiving, short-tempered mother instead of the forgiving, approachable, supportive, mother she wanted to be. Stafford had to get rid of some distractions, have empathy and not be controlled by her emotions so much. In one story, years after Stafford had changed the way she dealt with her kids, she lost days of hard work to a computer malfunction and her kids sympathized for her and showed her …show more content…
I have felt the effects of being yelled at and yelling at other little ones and it hasn’t really turned out well in either situation. I appreciate Stafford’s willingness to be honest with the world about the effects she has seen in her personal life too. I think her point and exhortation for patience and peace is very accurate and inspiring. I see this article as very relevant to life because no matter who you are yelling at, it is important to understand that yelling builds up walls, creates fear and doubt while probably stirring up resentment and bitterness. I want to always open up lines of communication not tear them down by my emotions or my actions. I see this idea of building bridges of peace not fear in many areas of my life and I am going to try and implement this now, as well as keep this article for later once I have children. I want to be a person who empathizes, has patience, spreads peace and helps break down walls, not build them