growing pains

I had my thyroid removed two months ago, and just yesterday my older son pointed out that one of the advantages of it has been that while I was hoarse and hypothyroid, I stopped yelling at him and his brother. I had to admit this was true -- I'm a born hothead, given the appropriate equipment and energy -- and more importantly that the change has made no difference whatsoever in my sons' behavior. This got us into an even more interesting (since I was off the hotseat) conversation about how the fact that my son's teacher yells at him (according to him) seems to be a factor in his apparently increasing dislike of school in general. "Next time she does that, why don't you just say, "I don't respond well to yelling"?" I asked him. He grinned. My parenting path is paved with awful, embarrassing mistakes, but I'm determined to make use of every one of them.