Today I was the SMARTEST MOM IN THE WORLD

This evening as I was driving home from music lessons with all four kids (who were all in various stages of crankiness), I got tired. Tired of yelling, tired of repeating myself seven times, tired of being ignored, and tired of ordering everyone around when they know perfectly well what they need to do.

So I decided not to talk. At all. Right before Theodore was born, I got a bad cold that rendered me speechless for a few days, and magically the kids matched my volume as I got sicker, so that they were finally only communicating in whispers. I wasn't hoping for that much tonight, but I was at least hoping I would cut down on the amount of yelling that was going to happen.

So we pulled into the driveway and I didn't say a thing. This is quite momentous for me. I talk a lot. I started getting everyone and everything unloaded silently. Nobody had quite noticed yet that I wasn't speaking. Halfway through the process, I noticed some garbage from our sack dinners that was strewn on the floor, and snapped my fingers to get Theodore's attention. He looked at me, looked at what I was pointing to, and picked it up accordingly. I then snapped my fingers again, pointed to his coat and books, and he picked those up, too.

Now they had noticed. Eleanor asked first, "mommy, what aren't you saying anything?" I just pointed to my throat and shook my head. Then I pointed at all the things they needed to bring in themselves, and continued unloading.

And it worked! They all silently (well, mostly silently. Theodore's a little slow (not really) and Viola's a baby) got ready for bed. I had to write a few notes to explain things, but I had their attention the whole time! And they were obedient! And excited to do things, purely because their mother had become a mute!

It went so well. I think I deserve a medal for tonight.