LOUD Girls

We do the different voices thing with my son who gets terribly loud and we also have "loud time" where no one can complain for 30 min who is too loud ... I take that time to use the food processor!

Yep!

Have them scream.

I'm serious. Line them up in front of you and practice screaming. Then whispering. Then high voices. Then low voices. Get them playing with their vocal range so that they can RECOGNIZE what that range is. Do it with them and have them copy you (it doesn't hurt your ears so much when you're joining in).

Then THROUGHOUT EACH DAY have them used DIFFERENT types of voices. "Low voices! Scream for me! Whisper!" Make it a game.

It's tempting to always have kids use quiet voices. Instead, try getting them accustomed to different kinds... so when you need them quiet or loud or whatever... they're practiced in adjusting their voices.

Inside voices and outside voices.

Screaming and talking super loud is for outside.

If they cannot understand teach them.. You show them what an inside voice should sound like and an outside voice should sound like.. They will need to know this before they start school.

We used to let our daughter and the neighbor kids scream as loud as they wanted outside. But never inside.

I hate to tell you this, but you still have MANY years of that ahead of you. My girls are almost 11 and 9yrs old and just a couple of hours ago were having a massive tickle fight (or something like that, it sounded like they were being both murdered and tickled - lots of screaming and laughing). I did eventually have to go upstairs and tell them to take it down a notch. Honestly, I would much rather hear that laughing and screaming with joy than crying and screaming with frustration (which unfortunately happens as well). But I do wish they'd just take it down one or two decibels...

And, yeah, wine does help.

4 1/2 yr old and 2 yo are basically noisy so get used to it!

Girls will be girls and girls are loud! I remember when I had two granddaughters living with me. They are 3 years apart, but played together VERY well. BUT they were loud! It drove me crazy. I hate to admit it, but I was extremely happy when one of them moved out! I don't really know what to tell you. I never punished because they would do it because they were having so much fun, it just got away from them. I just kept constantly telling them no screaming. It's the high-pitched scream that bothered me the most. Yes, they are old enough to understand, but they get carried away with themselves!

Being quiet & controlling her voice will be a bit harder for your 2 yr old. Enlist the help of big sister & have her set the quiet example. Show them the kind of voice level that is acceptable for your house. Praise them when they are being quiet.

I don't have advice for you but I do sympathize. I have two girls, 3 and 5 and they are loud when playing and fighting! LOL

I have rules here, if toys come out of the bedroom, well, poor poor toys have to go to time out...they are sad when that happens because they don't get to play with their kid. The kids will start to walk in with an armload of toys and I say something along the lines of how sad they will be in time out and the kids spin back around and off they go. I also have a rule they do time out for not using indoor voices. I try to give them lots of room at the beginning. I tell them I am tired of hurting ears and it is time for indoor time. If indoor voices don't happen then noisy kids will have time out. Then it happens. I give one - two warning if they are successfully staying quiet most of the time. I do not waver. One time and it is start over time.

I have a daughter.
And I often, invite her friends over for play-dates.
They ALL scream. And it is, screaming in fun. They are doing it while having fun.
So... they just do that.
Girls, scream. For any reason.

Okay: I am letting my daughter read this RIGHT now. Her reply to your question is: "ALL girls scream, there's no problem with that... we're just having fun... Its not making trouble kind of screaming or angry kind of screaming... its just fun or happy kind of screaming."

Sure, as a Mom, the decibels are hard to take sometimes.
But, kids/girls do that.
I don't put my daughter in time-out over that. Nor my 5 year old son.
Because... they are.not.causing.trouble.
It is a matter of... my ears... cannot take it sometimes. And personally, I am sensitive to noises.
But I discern... between her making trouble types of noises, or her just having fun and not even realizing... she is loud.

I also grew up in a noisy house. It just was.
Versus my Husband... I swear, he grew up in a LIBRARY. I don't know how that was even practical or child friendly.

Both my kids are VERY active and VERY expressive and VERY vocal and have natural Trumpet voices.
I cherish that. They have, a voice. AND they have SO many types of voices and tones of voices and they know... ALL of them.
Even if it is sometimes, so vocally busy, in my home.
BUT yes, my kids ALSO KNOW how to whisper.
And they do so.
And they have quiet moments, too.
Hooray.

My kids right now by the way... just finished screaming in joy, and are now singing and asking me questions and talking to each other and to me... all at the same, time.
Hooray.
;0

If your kids are too loud sometimes and you are going berzerk... just tell them. Tell them. Tell them.
Tell them, "Can you all be quieter? Mommy is going nuts with the noise.... and its best if you can be quieter, before I get... grumpy... and stricter..."
That works... for my kids. I always... tell them, honestly... when their noise is too much for my, tolerance at the time.
I tell them... when I am at my limit... before I hit, my limit.
And they then, do key down. Because, they don't want, a 'grumpy' Mommy. (wink).

And you know what? My vocal kids, are very quiet and composed.... at school.

Perhaps if you set up some sort of scheduled activity times where you can encourage times to be loud and boisterous and other times that are for quiet time, you could more easily withstand their exuberance. Maybe have a time where you put on some wild, silly music CD and spend time with them just dancing and being loud right along with them for about half an hour. Then when that is done, have them sit down to an activity such as coloring, or maybe you reading to them for a while to have quiet time. Then give them free play time where they can again be more noisy, and give them a limit to the amount of noise. Perhaps say something like, "please lower your voices just a bit because that is hurting my ears". And when you are talking with them, keep your own voice just a bit lower than normal to give them the idea. What I have done at times when working with groups of children who have gotten too noisy, is to first very loudly start a sentence - to get my voice above their volume so it gets their attention - and then gradually lower my volume so that they end up having to be very, very quiet just to hear me. I may ask them to sit quietly for about half a minute then get back up to continue their play with their voices at a more tolerable volume for me. Acknowledge to them that you do understand they are just being happy and playful and that you appreciate that, but that you need their voices to be just a bit more quiet. I usually say something like "my ears are old and they can't take that much loud noise". Another option might be to require that if they are going to have to make that much noise, they must be inside their own room with the door closed so it isn't so loud for you.

my kids are loud too, when they play but they can't yell, like screaming monkeys. it's just a rule and they go by it now. my kids are the same ages as yours. they get a little loud once in a while, but for the most part they play with "inside" voices. but if all else fails, i'd go with the wine route. ;)

Maybe you need to jazz up your art activities. you could freeze icecubes with food colorign in them and popsicle sticks as handles and then let them paint with them. if you have finger paint paper it sort of glides.

give them a cookies sheet with a pile of shaving cream or whipped cream and let them finger paint with that.

My aunt made a tunnel for her grandson with a cardboard shoe box more long and narrow-ish and he zooms his hotwheels throught it for hours, do your girls have somethign with wheels.

My big go to for quiet times was a book on Cd from the library, we just listened to the stories while they colored or what ever and it was calming. Now they love chapter books on cd.

what about some music and play freeze dance. they freeze like a statue when the music stops.

make a tent from two chairs and a bed sheet.

seriously get a rug!!! that will help the most.