Ren Allen

~I think that for a
kid who is constantly hearing a yelling mom, the urgency in her voice
may be relegated to background noise, if you know what I mean.~

Yes, definitely. My Mom yelled all the time, we totally tuned her out.

I really feel like I didn't take the time with my post about saying
"STOP" though. Not enough info. I guess because my children and I have
built these relationships of trust, I CAN say "stop now" and they know
I have a good reason. But it certainly doesn't have to be in a loud
voice either.

Like with the sleeping brother. I would have kept my voice soft and
said very clearly "that is NOT ok, come over here with me please" or
something that would get the child out of that area so you could give
hugs, or discuss or whatever needs to be done.

For some children, a hug while saying "stop that" will work great. If
he was too angry to be touched yet, it might not work. I might have
said "I'm going to bring this toy into the other room, because I can
see you really want to push the noisy button, but it is NOT ok to wake
your brother"

There are SO many options, none of them include ignoring the fact that
he refused to let the room stay quiet for the person that is sleeping.

Ren
learninginfreedom.com