I've been having the hardest time starting this because honestly, it could turn into a book. I have made it my mission as a mother to make our home as stress free as possible, because I remember so many stressful mornings as a kid. It's hard, I know. Probably the hardest thing to do as a mom. Because stuff is always happening. Kids are tired, mom is tired, dad is so busy, and meltdowns come easy. The trick is to figure out how to communicate and support. Say what?

I am a very emotional person. I see someone crying, I cry. If someone is mad, I'm ready to go to battle for them. If I'm around happy people, I'm on top of the world. So, it's really easy for me to get wrapped up in a stressful situation and just let it take over. I've known this for many years, and have slowly learned how to handle it. I've also learned that you have to be really careful about letting other people's stress into your life...I just can't do it. Once I figured this out about myself, I quickly realized that it was like this for most people. We all influence each other's moods. It made me really think about how we could change the mood in our home and what it would take to do so.

It started with one simple rule...no yelling in the morning. You are allowed to be tired, stressed, annoyed, mad because your hair isn't cooperating or peeved because your shorts didn't make it to the dryer, but you may not yell. As long as you communicate in a calm way, we can work together. The minute you yell, Mom walks away. You may be saying, "Yeah, right! That'll never work." I'm telling you...try it for a week, but really stick to your guns. It works! It's been working for us for 11 years now. There have been days when someone has lost it a little, sometimes that person was me. But, 99% of the time, it works!

Now you may be thinking, what's the big deal about getting through your morning without yelling? Well, think about it...if you start your day badly, doesn't it seem like everything just falls in line behind it? It works the exact same way if you start your day out on a positive note...your day will probably just get better!

Just think back a bit...or go way back like I am. Junior High/High School. Ugh...I'm just going to recap a typical morning as I remember it.

I wake up after hitting the snooze button 3 times. Now I have to hurry. I jump in the shower in a rush and wash as quickly as possible. Hit my shin on the way out of the shower, trip on my towel and throw my towel on top of the pile of dirty clothes that I meant to wash, realizing that the acid washed mini skirt I was going to wear is still in the pile of dirty clothes. What the crud am I going to do? It's the only thing that I have that will go with my bubble gum pink sweater from Benetton! I start to fa-reak out! I draw on my electric blue eye liner while tears fall down my face, apply an enormous amount of mousse to my hair and grab my blow dryer in a fit of rage. My hair won't do anything!!! Mom yells from downstairs, "It's time to go!" I scream back, "I'm not going! I'm so ugly! I can't go! I'm never leaving this house again!" Pause. Play. Repeat.

You can relate, right? Guess what happens next? My day is horrible. My mom leaves me at school with red eyes and spends the rest of her day worrying about how bad my day is going, so her day is horrible too. It happened so many days, and I remember them well.

So, in short, we just try to start every day out on the best foot possible. We try to be patient with one another, kind, and thankful to each other too..we always take a minute to say, "I love you, be careful." It's a thing for us... and it works. It may not always be easy, but it works. It's my nod to the whole "don't go to bed angry" thing. Don't start your day on the wrong foot...give yourself the best start possible!