Stop Yelling! The Orange Rhino Challenge

Very Silly Photos of Jen Yelling from an old Modeling Gig

I’m not a big yeller. I’m more of a terrified-of-conflict, too-shy-to-engage, oh-well-life-sucks kind of gal. Except when it comes to three people. There are exactingly three people in my life that can cause me to totally lose it. My sister, my husband, and my son. What do these three people have in common? They are the three people I feel the most comfortable with, the most loved by. In other words, they are the three people that deserve my yelling the least.

This is just one of the discoveries I made while reading Shelia McCraith’s Yell Less, Love More: How the Orange Rhino Mom Stopped Yelling at Her Kids-and How You Can Too!

I met Shelia last summer at an awesome mom meetup hosted by MomTrends. I had never heard of Shelia or her Orange Rhino Challenge. A fellow blogger whispered to me, “That’s the mom who hasn’t yelled at her kids in over 500  days.” I snorted into my wine. “Really?” Skeptical, I walked over to meet her, prepared to hear some New-Agey-Sanctimonious Mom-Crap. But nope, Shelia is authentic, non-judgmental, and one of the funniest moms I’ve met.

Her story begins after a particularly embarrassing episode of losing it completely in front of a handyman. Shelia vowed to go 365 days without yelling at her children. She had four under the age of 5 at the time! She started a blog to chart her progress and named it “The Orange Rhino Challenge.” She had a quite a few setbacks. Each time she yelled, she reset her counter. But finally, she made it AN ENTIRE YEAR without yelling at her kids and then… just kept on going.

A very non-yelling moment.

You can now read her story in a brand-new book, available here. I got a sneak-peak copy of the book and gobbled it down in less than two days. Though I’m sure it will be categorized as a “parenting book” (as if any book could teach you to parent!), it’s so much more. Shelia doesn’t preach or push her methods. She just tells you her own story, which is pretty freaking hilarious! There are methods that range from the tried and true (take your own time out and breathe) to the bizarre (scream into the toilet and then flush it away.)

It’s a must-read for anyone who has screamed at a loved one and felt the sting of embarrassment, regret, and shame after.

Stop Yelling! Watch Shelia on MomCave LIVE

Shelia was a recent guest on our weekly live show, MomCave LIVE and shared some of her techniques. Check it out here:

And enter to win your own copy of Yell Less, Love More below.
Win an Autographed Copy of “The Orange Rhino Challenge” and a Gift Set from The Orange Rhino

Listen to this live episode as a podcast, The Orange Rhino Challenge to Stop Yelling at Your Kids on MomCave Live

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Jen

Jennifer Weedon Palazzo is the creator/writer/and producer of Mom Cave TV, an online network of comedy shows for moms including Slummy Mummy, Double Leche, Blabbermom, and MomCave LIVE. She's a working actress in NYC who has appeared in films, commercials, and some very off-off Broadway plays. When she’s not writing about the funny side of being a mom (for blogs like Scary Mommy and Mamalode) Jennifer can be found eating Reese’s Cups while furiously bidding on vintage clothing on eBay. She lives with her husband, Evan, bandleader of The Hot Sardines and two spirited children.

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