“I can only take how many acetaminophen a day?!…Yeah…that’s not going to be enough…” I say to myself as I read the bottle. Seriously, these kids are loud and my head is pounding.
(A post written very sarcastically and lightheartedly…with a headache – ha!)
The Causes of my Headaches
I have 2-1/2-year-old twin boys and a 4-1/2-year-old boy. They LOVE screaming. Often not at anything in particular, just screaming to hear themselves scream. Screaming as loud as they can to see if they can get the other two to join them (spoiler alert, the answer is generally yes), and screaming to see how much they can scream before mommy cracks.
I equate the amount of screaming they do randomly to how much teenage girls talk. I mean, it’s constant. I remember being a teenage girl, I never shut up, just ask my dad. I understood when they screamed when they weren’t able to talk but all 3 of them can talk quite well at this point, meaning that theoretically, the screaming should have lessened by now…right?!
To be fair, they don’t always scream for no reason. Sometimes they scream at each other because they disagree with each other and really feel that the only way to not only get their point across but also change the other child’s mind is if they scream the words as loud as they can. As you can likely guess, that works about as well for them as it does for adults discussing politics.
Trying to Stop Their Screaming
I’ve tried a lot of tactics to get them to stop screaming. Even though I know it’s counterintuitive, I’ve tried yelling back which of course doesn’t work. I’ve tried jumping up and down to confuse them, but that stopped working after the second time. I’ve tried just ignoring them but then the screaming tends to get louder as they think no reaction means it’s ok to do.
I’ve tried the classroom tricks I’ve learned over the years from observing in classrooms as a school psychologist such as clapping, putting my hands in the air, etc. Those things don’t tend to work either, maybe I’m not doing it right. Other times I just walk away into another room and let them scream it out a bit. Sometimes that works…eventually. Luckily I’m able to watch them on cameras within our house without the sound so I can make sure they’re safe yet not be right in the room with the screaming.
Anyway, I really don’t like using medicine unless really necessary but much too often the headaches cause crankiness which then causes more screaming (by me or them? I’ve lost track by then) so acetaminophen for the win much too often.
Hopefully, once they get older and stop screaming so much (that’ll happen, right?!) my liver will still be ok despite the acetaminophen use. At least I don’t drink alcohol anymore so my liver isn’t being knocked down by that as well.
Alright, gotta go, Twin A just brought me a booger on his finger…this is “the way it really is”.
Disclaimer: to be completely honest, I typically take 2 acetaminophen a day, at most. I was writing this to be comical along with some truth. I don’t condone the overuse of medicine.
As a mom of identical twins and a son two years older, I have gained invaluable experience in the realm, and chaos, of parenting. With a Master's Degree and Education Specialist Degree in School Psychology, I spent years as a school psychologist, helping children navigate through their educational and emotional challenges. Now as a stay at home mom and professional blogger, I combine my areas of expertise to help you in your parenting journey.