When our kids start acting like fools, our inclination is to raise our voices and, yeah, sometimes yell outright. This is especially true if our kid is getting louder and more out of control. But there’s extreme power in doing the opposite. Whispering makes the child have to stop to hear you. Right there, you’ve disrupted the escalation. Whispering is also 100 percent less threatening than yelling. In any heated situation, you will meet the vocal response that’s thrown at you. Yelling has to be matched with yelling. Kids are no different. Whispering is verbal nonviolence.
