Sheila McCraith

Sheila McCraith, more widely known as The Orange Rhino, is a mom to four energetic boys ages 7 and under and recent winner of PARENTS Magazine 2013 Blog Most Likely to Help You Achieve a Goal. In January 2012 her handyman caught her screaming at her boys - like full on screaming! Mortified by her behavior, she promised her boys that she would go 365 days straight without yelling. Her blog www.TheOrangeRhino.com documents her journey, highlighting her lessons learned along the way and the alternatives to yelling she created to help her achieve her goal! That is the formal blurb about me! Here are some more informal facts: 1. Pink or blue used to be my favorite color, now orange is! Most of my closet are orange shirts and sweaters so that on tough days I can wear orange as a reminder to be warm and not lose my cool! 2. I created the name The Orange Rhino after my son said to me, "Mom, I can't yell but I can still pick my nose!" That night I googled the origin of the word nose and got rhino. One thing lead to another and I learned that rhinos are naturally calm animals that charge when provoked. That is, rather was, so me. I am thrilled I chose this name because not only is it symbolic, but it is fun and as such, set the tone for my entire no-yelling challenge! Yelling is such a serious topic but it doesn't have to be tackled in just a serious manner! I actually had lots of fun learning to not yell - and have lots more fun now that I don't yell! 3. I never thought that I would be a yeller. At age 12, after witnessing my uncle scream, ridicule and bring my cousins to cower and cry in the corner, I vowed to never yell and be “that parent.” I grew older and witnessed parents yell and publicly shame their children for silly reasons and I vowed to never yell and be “that parent.” I grew older still and began to witness friends have kids and do an amazing job of handling tough situations with patience and love; and I vowed to myself that I would indeed be “that parent.” Then January 20, 2012 happened and well, you know the rest of the story! 4. I do not have a PhD in psychology or any other area one would expect a writer about yelling to have. The only PhD that I do have is that I am a Parent (who) Has (the) Determination to yell less and love more. I am a parent just like you - I am a parent with real triggers, real struggles, real good days and real bad days. I want to yell when I have P.M.S; when I get in a fight with my husband; when my son’s sensory issues flare up; when my other son’s speech delay makes it hard to understand him; when I feel insecure about myself as a mom, a friend, a wife, a neighbor; or when my jeans don’t fit because I had an extra slice of pizza. 5. I love to dream about being the perfect mom and person with none of these struggles, but I am not, and I don’t pretend to be. I am often sleep deprived, me-time deprived, exercise deprived, and “enough-hours-in-the-day” deprived; and that can make me cranky. I am honest, down-to-earth, emotional, sarcastic, pensive, and on rare occasion, funny. Some moments I am happy, joyful, and proud to be a mom; other moments I feel frustrated, sad, guilty, nervous or out right exasperated. I think this is more than okay; I think it is normal and I dare to share about it all.