I ask because practically every night (days are easier-but they get loud then too), we are constantly stopping the kids and telling them to be quiet. I didn't used to, but am starting time outs for it because I am sick of telling them all of the time.
Maybe I am not being permissive enough? IDK. We have a small house, so we can't send them to some far away room and let them be as noisy as they want (which I wouldn't anyway-there are limits on inside noise, IMO). So maybe the fact that they are RIGHT in front of me is part of the problem. But Bill and I can barely carry on a conversation some nights, it is so loud!!
They are worse in the cooler months too-cooped up and all.
John and I also can barely carry on a conversation. I had to laugh the other night b/c I think we were so desperate to talk to one another that we talked above the crowd noise as if it weren't even happening but it totally was!!
We absolutely do not like it. It stresses us out. We are constantly trying to quiet the masses with little to no success.
Jake likes to pick at his sister to hear her wail. She falls for it every.single.time. (i.e., Kate, I got your nose, Kate, I got your imaginary cookies, Kate you can't play with my xyz).
If someone takes something from Jake he has the most high pitched scream I have ever heard. Little John can't keep his hands off of Jake - they are always after each other.
i guess i'm just coming from a different place than you, supa. i think i use time out a bit less than you do, and for the yelling, i just don't do time outs.
now, on a bad day, i might tell emily she needs to play in her room for a little while until she comes down (since she's the screamer in our house), but as far as for a time out, just not something we do.
i guess i'm just coming from a different place than you, supa. i think i use time out a bit less than you do, and for the yelling, i just don't do time outs.
now, on a bad day, i might tell emily she needs to play in her room for a little while until she comes down (since she's the screamer in our house), but as far as for a time out, just not something we do.
Well, I will say that I give them warnings-I will tell them 2 or 3 times, and tell them if they can't settle down and use a more quiet voice, they will go to time out, kwim? They get WOUND before bed, so I am also trying to get them to calm down a bit and be more ready for sleep. During the day I let it go a lot more.
I really do think I would allow more noise if we had more space-but they are literally 3 feet away from me at most. It just gets to be too much.
I do use time outs a lot. They are still fairly effective for my girls, and it keeps me from yelling at them. IDK what I am going to do when they stop working, but since I have been better about the yelling at them, their behaviors have improved too. (overall-we all have our moments!!)
The noise level is crazy with 2 boys and screaming (in a fun way) Sarah.
This is seriously one of the reasons we moved from Chicago to here.
Being trapped all winter with them indoors was driving me to drink. ;)
Here I can throw them outside in the back yard and now that they're older they go out front everyday after school and play with the neighbor kids.
TGFschool is all I can say.
I tell ya, you are onto something with the warm climate. If we could be outside all the time, it would be SO much easier.
I TOTALLY see now why school is so important for a mother's sanity, lmao. I think in some ways, I will miss certain things (like being able to go to the zoo or the aquarium during the week when everyone else is in school), but overall, THEY are happier when they are in school and so am I. When they got over the flu but weren't quite well enough to go back to school, we were all climbing the walls around here.
Not loud at all... but Luc is an only child so I guess that is a big part of it... he doesn't have anyone to compete with, however, when we watched his two friends in the afternoons during the summer I felt like a broken record saying "inside voices" and "STOP SCREAMING" When it got two loud we would seperate them all and make them sit in time out while they calmed down.
WHAT??? I CAN'T HEAR YOU OVER THE CRAZY PEOPLE IN MY HOUSE!
It gets INSANELY loud here...some evenings, Don and I sit on the patio so we can try to hear each other talk.
When I'm home by myself, I can keep the tv at a level 5 for volume--by the time all four kids are home from school, then Don and Jeff get home from work, PLUS trying to cook supper and finish up any undone laundry....well, the tv level gets up to 40 sometimes!
And someone is ALWAYS screaming or whining...Daniel has that high pitched scream and he and Keely both are pretty whiny (i THINK part of hers is her pre-adolescence
The only peace and quiet is when the kids are in school...surely I will be by the end of thanksgiving and xmas breaks.
i guess i'm just coming from a different place than you, supa. i think i use time out a bit less than you do, and for the yelling, i just don't do time outs.
now, on a bad day, i might tell emily she needs to play in her room for a little while until she comes down (since she's the screamer in our house), but as far as for a time out, just not something we do.
Well, I will say that I give them warnings-I will tell them 2 or 3 times, and tell them if they can't settle down and use a more quiet voice, they will go to time out, kwim? They get WOUND before bed, so I am also trying to get them to calm down a bit and be more ready for sleep. During the day I let it go a lot more.
I really do think I would allow more noise if we had more space-but they are literally 3 feet away from me at most. It just gets to be too much.
I do use time outs a lot. They are still fairly effective for my girls, and it keeps me from yelling at them. IDK what I am going to do when they stop working, but since I have been better about the yelling at them, their behaviors have improved too. (overall-we all have our moments!!)
See, honestly, I think we could have a house the size of a mansion and my little boogers would still be three feet away from me anyway!!!
And to answer the question - LOUD. And obnoxious. It was really bad today. But we don't do time outs for it.
John and I also can barely carry on a conversation. I had to laugh the other night b/c I think we were so desperate to talk to one another that we talked above the crowd noise as if it weren't even happening but it totally was!!
We absolutely do not like it. It stresses us out. We are constantly trying to quiet the masses with little to no success.
Jake likes to pick at his sister to hear her wail. She falls for it every.single.time. (i.e., Kate, I got your nose, Kate, I got your imaginary cookies, Kate you can't play with my xyz).
If someone takes something from Jake he has the most high pitched scream I have ever heard. Little John can't keep his hands off of Jake - they are always after each other.
:banghead:
This sounds EXACTLY like my house. Complete with the deliberate goading. Drives me insane, but I allow it because they're just talking and being kids. Well, I don't allow the picking on others, but I do allow the noise. Honestly, with 7 people, there's no way it's going to be quiet, especially crammed in this house like we are.
it isnt that loud here at all. cara is the loud one, but she's not THAT bad, and rachel flips out on her when she's too loud. rachel can erupt into loudness, but overall she's not terrible. they are loudest in the bathtub (TEENY bathtub, and R wears earplugs in there, so everything is extra loud).
they can be loud, but overall they are pretty quiet kids. thank god, bc loudness stresses the hell out of me. i have never given a timeout for loudness, but i might consider it if it were a bigger problem over here.
Noise doesn't bother me. Screaming does but not noise that comes from playing. Raven has an accordion(real child size one) and a trumpet(plastic from a carnival) that drives Ray crazy. When, where is she suppose to play them? Raven has a loud excited tone to her voice a lot. I'm very good a tuning it out when I'm not involved in play with her.
I think I've lost some of my hearing it is so loud.
and Travis doesn't help. at.all. Tickle fights on the floor at 7 at night. I'venever heard louder shrieking in my life.
We don't do time outs or anything. If it gets out of hand, daddy is done tickling and playing. That is punishment enough. But out of hand is getting too rough, not too loud. I just grind my teeth until 20 minutes before bedtime when it is time to settle- no questions asked. Teeth and FINALLY bed.
And yeah, winter makes it 20 times worse. As does having the worlds tiniest apartment.
I wanted to clarify one thing-I don't expect them to be truly quiet. They can play and have fun, and I know they are kids. But I can not tolerate them screaming and yelling (playfully or otherwise) inside. THAT is what they get timeouts for-the yelling and screaming. And only after fair warning.
Juni, you might be right-they would probably be right next to me, or at least in the next room, no matter how big our house is, but at least the rooms would be bigger and could handle more sound!!
Also, I get extremely stressed over noise. Really loud behavior is very physically upsetting to me-it puts me into panic mode for some reason. And the stress bubbles up in me until I am tied in knots. That alone is all it takes for me to 1) yell at them and 2) start having abdominal pain that I KNOW is leading to flare conditions in the bathroom. So I just try my best to keep the really loud behaviors outside. Maybe it isn't fair to them, but it is better than the alternative, for everyone.
I wanted to clarify one thing-I don't expect them to be truly quiet. They can play and have fun, and I know they are kids. But I can not tolerate them screaming and yelling (playfully or otherwise) inside. THAT is what they get timeouts for-the yelling and screaming. And only after fair warning.
Juni, you might be right-they would probably be right next to me, or at least in the next room, no matter how big our house is, but at least the rooms would be bigger and could handle more sound!!
Also, I get extremely stressed over noise. Really loud behavior is very physically upsetting to me-it puts me into panic mode for some reason. And the stress bubbles up in me until I am tied in knots. That alone is all it takes for me to 1) yell at them and 2) start having abdominal pain that I KNOW is leading to flare conditions in the bathroom. So I just try my best to keep the really loud behaviors outside. Maybe it isn't fair to them, but it is better than the alternative, for everyone.
red: this happens to me, too...which is partly why i try to avoid crowds.
When mine start being just plain loud I usually just shout over them as boomingly as possible "HEY! Be quiet or go to your room to settle down!!!"
Fortunaytely the oldest boys are pretty quiet...it's keely's girl whine and daniels screaming that just get under my skin.
i've been known to just go outside by myself if i start to feel anxious...whether here at home, at family gathering, where ever.
It does get loud. And it does bother me very much. Especially now that we have Addy.
The rule is that if he wants to yell and scream and can't get outside to do it- he has to go to his room and shut the door. Otherwise- he has to carry on quietly in a nice, normal inside voice. If he wants to be loud (but not yell and scream) he still has to go to his room and do it but he can keep his door shut. Our house is small but I still send him to his room to do it. That way it won't bother me as much.
I wanted to clarify one thing-I don't expect them to be truly quiet. They can play and have fun, and I know they are kids. But I can not tolerate them screaming and yelling (playfully or otherwise) inside. THAT is what they get timeouts for-the yelling and screaming. And only after fair warning.
Juni, you might be right-they would probably be right next to me, or at least in the next room, no matter how big our house is, but at least the rooms would be bigger and could handle more sound!!
Also, I get extremely stressed over noise. Really loud behavior is very physically upsetting to me-it puts me into panic mode for some reason. And the stress bubbles up in me until I am tied in knots. That alone is all it takes for me to 1) yell at them and 2) start having abdominal pain that I KNOW is leading to flare conditions in the bathroom. So I just try my best to keep the really loud behaviors outside. Maybe it isn't fair to them, but it is better than the alternative, for everyone.
Screaming/yelling and being loud are totally different. I have zero tolerance for screaming/yelling even outside.
I wanted to clarify one thing-I don't expect them to be truly quiet. They can play and have fun, and I know they are kids. But I can not tolerate them screaming and yelling (playfully or otherwise) inside. THAT is what they get timeouts for-the yelling and screaming. And only after fair warning.
Juni, you might be right-they would probably be right next to me, or at least in the next room, no matter how big our house is, but at least the rooms would be bigger and could handle more sound!!
Also, I get extremely stressed over noise. Really loud behavior is very physically upsetting to me-it puts me into panic mode for some reason. And the stress bubbles up in me until I am tied in knots. That alone is all it takes for me to 1) yell at them and 2) start having abdominal pain that I KNOW is leading to flare conditions in the bathroom. So I just try my best to keep the really loud behaviors outside. Maybe it isn't fair to them, but it is better than the alternative, for everyone.
This is me too - well minus the abdominal pain. The noise level really does something to my brain and I have a hard time coping. Don't get me wrong, it is LOUD in my house , but I try to keep the loudness to the downstairs family room. And I usually move to another room. It also helps that my kids are older and play on their own for the most part.
by the end of thanksgiving and xmas breaks.
