The 2nd Orange Rhino Challenge Day: This Wednesday!

MARK your calendars!
TELL your friends!
FACEBOOK it!
BLOG it!
TWEET it!
PIN it!

Whatever you do just SHARE (this post) with your friends, your family, your co-workers, and maybe even the barista at Starbucks and the clerk in the grocery store that this

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 29, 2012 is the 2^nd Orange Rhino Challenge Day!
A day where we all try to go without yelling at our kids!
A day where we all love our kids more!
A day where I will donate $1.00* per person who participates to Habitat for Humanity (*details below)

Think it can’t be done? Think you can’t go a day? You CAN DO IT. I never, in a thousand worlds thought I could go a day. Or 10. Or 100. Or even 200. But here I am two days away from celebrating 200 days of not yelling, proof that it can be done!

Has it been hard and taken a few tries? Yes.
Has it been worth it? HECK YEAH!
Should you give it a try? Double heck yeah!!!

Why? Because there is only upside! There is the chance you can feel what I have felt from this experience: exhilaration, pride, less guilt, more calm, and lots ‘o joy!

Intrigued? Ready to try out The Orange Rhino Challenge for JUST ONE DAY? Here’s how you can participate THIS WEDNESDAY:

1) Get 3-5 friends to take this ONE DAY challenge with you by sharing this blog post and making a pact to do it together.
Having support will help you make it through the day. Text each other and support each other when you want to yell. This is how I survived my first week pre-blog! Plus the accountability of them knowing your goal works wonders!

2) “Post” your name to show your participation and so people beyond your friends can support you! On the morning of August 29^th check in one of four ways:
– Post at The Orange Rhino Facebook Page (www.facebook.com/TheOrangeRhino)
– Comment on Thursday mornings Blog Post at www.TheOrangeRhino.com
– Email me at theorangerhinochallenge@gmail.com
– Tweet me at ORchallenge.

At the end of the day, Post AGAIN to say how the day went.

3) Increase your Support Network by Changing your FB Profile picture to The Orange Rhino Challenge image to spread the word and to get people asking you about what you are doing further getting you support! It’s amazing how people rooting for you can really help. Go to the BUTTON picture in the right column of my blog and Save As. Then upload it to FB as your profile picture. Or Save this image:

Make me your FB profile picture this Wednesday!

4) Find Support and Give Support all day by logging on to your method of communication. Feel like yelling? Yell at me. Need advice on how to survive the day? Ask the community. Want encouragement? Seek it from us. This is a day for all parents who want to be Orange Rhinos, who want to be parents who have the energy and determination to forge ahead and parent with more composure and warmth and without the yelling, to support each other.

5) Read some of these posts to inspire you to succeed and to give you ideas on how to succeed!

https://theorangerhino.com/the-challenge-details/
(definition of yelling per this challenge)

https://theorangerhino.com/why-i-yelled-at-my-kids/ (big inspiration to try)

https://theorangerhino.com/50-alternatives-to-yelling-at-your-kids/
(ideas on how not to yell)

https://theorangerhino.com/orange-rhino-mommy/ (my favorite source of help not yelling)

https://theorangerhino.com/you-never-know/ (inspiration to try)

https://theorangerhino.com/why-the-big-tears/ (way not to yell, inspiration)

***Check back in tomorrow night at www.TheOrangeRhino.com for a new 50 alternatives to yelling!

It’s that simple. Take a chance. You might just surprise yourself. I know I did!

“You may never know what results come from your action. But if you do nothing, there will be no result.”
~ Mahatma Gandhi

*

I’ve gotten so much out of this Challenge and from the support from all of the other Orange Rhinos that it is time to give back. FOR EVERY PERSON that participates by “posting” I will DONATE $1.00 per person up to $200 to Habitat for Humanity. Why Habitat? Well, if it weren’t for my being able to do home improvements to my house, I would never have had the Epiphany (https://theorangerhino.com/the-epiphany/) that started this Challenge in the first place. And if it wasn’t for my Epiphany I never would have experienced these feelings:

1. Exhilaration & Pride – Knowing that I can find other ways to communicate, that I can do something hard is exhilarating. When I walk away from a moment without yelling I truly get a natural high from feeling good about myself (which by the way is often hard to achieve as a mom)! Added bonus? Pride from knowing that I am teaching my kids how to positively handle a situation and that I am loving them more, not less!

2. Less Guilt – Mama guilt be gone! There are so many things I wish I did better as a mom. But the biggest one, wishing I didn’t yell, has been removed. I no longer feel guilty about being a yeller because I am not one. The weight that has been lift is beyond freeing. It’s amazing.

3. More Calm – Yelling always raised my blood pressure and got me even more agitated than my current state. (Okay, well I don’t know if it did for sure but based on my bright red face am my racing heart I am going to assume it did). Not raising my voice has done wonders for how I physically feel!

4. Lots and lots ‘o Joy – Not yelling has forced me to be nicer. Period. This has led to many more loving moments with my boys because I am forced to be more empathetic, patient and loving with them. Added bonus? They are also more loving towards me now! I feel SO MUCH BETTER about myself as a parent and I know my kids feel so much better about me as a mom. It’s a win win, it’s joy all around! Add in feeling calmer and “lighter” and I find that I really am enjoying their company more.

Right now you’re probably thinking, yeah, this is all great but is all the Energy, Patience and Hard Work that one puts into not yelling worth it? Yes.

Besides the obvious reasons about how not yelling is better for my children, there is one benefit I never expected. My life feels richer now. I know it sounds hokey, trust me, I know. I am the first person to call something hokey. But it is true.

Because now that I am not yelling, I have shared some truly remarkable moments with my kids that I know wouldn’t have happened pre-challenge because I would have been too busy yelling at them. Like when I found my son in my bed after bedtime. I wanted to scream because I was so done with the day. But instead I asked him, What is going on? And he replied,

“Mommy, will you love me when I go to heaven? Mommy, will love me when you go to heaven?”

This heart wrenching but wonderful conversation never would have happened if I were still yelling. This is just one of the many moments gained from not yelling. Who knows, maybe you’ll have one on Wednesday?

So just try it. It took me just 1 day of not yelling at kids to realize that while hard, YES I COULD learn to not yell at them. And so you can you.

www.TheOrangeRhino.com
www.facebook.com/TheOrangeRhino
I can’t yell for 365 days…but I can still pick my nose!