I can't take the noise any more !!!

S sings all the time ... K just likes noise for the sake of it. He'll hum ... he'll make monster noises ... he'll "sing" (the poor boy is tone deaf) ... he'll whistle ... and if all that fails he'll stomp or skip or clap his hands and tap his feet. I'm damned sure that it would be physically impossible for him to sit still and stay quiet if his life depended on it.

This morning while we were getting ready, suddenly it was just all too much for me. I went into the kitchen and the TV was on so we could watch Danger Mouse before we walked out the door (as you do), but K hadn't turned the radio off, so that was on too, and he was singing (a different song to what was on the radio) and clapping his hands ... and S was tickling him and giggling ...

I just want it to stop !!!

I grew up in a quiet household. My folks never ever yelled at us. In fact, the angrier my mom got, the quieter she got. When she whispered, boy, you knew you were in trouble then. My dad never yelled either. He had that "dad" look that spoke louder than words and meant "you better cut that out right now or man you are gonna get it when you get home !!" OK ... so I was scared of my folks a bit growing up. OK, sometimes it was more than a bit. And no, I don't want my rugrats growing up scared of me ... at least, not unreasonably so (a little fear is a good thing) ...

I've tried not yelling ... really really really I have !!! I'm apparently completely incapable of doing the "mom" look that instilled such fear into my sister and I growing up. Either that or my rugrats are genetically immune to such tactics.

I realise that complete silence is unrealistic with small children ... but the phrase that comes out of my mouth the most often at the moment is "would you two please just shut up ?" ... and I don't like it. How do I get a quiet(er) house back !?!?