This is a Year Long Scare, Or should I say annoyance? 
Screams are not just for Halloween anymore. Have you ever noticed that where ever you go children are screaming? It isn’t necessarily unhappy, temper tantrum screaming either. It’s just plain screaming for the fun of it. Am I just now noticing it; or has it always been a phenomenon that I just haven’t noticed?
I remember when I was a kid as young as first grade that the playground was full of screaming, and I didn’t understand it then. I didn’t like the chaos of it then and I don’t like it now. I guess the bigger question is: why are parents allowing it?
My mom would never allow us to scream, and I mean NEVER; unless of course we had blood pouring out of us (literally), or someone was trying to kidnap us. She always told us that screams were saved for times when it was a true emergency so that she would realize that something serious was happening. How was she to decipher a serious “help me scream” from one she could ignore? So she told us to reserve screaming for such occasions so we never screamed. I found that nothing in my life constituted a scream, and to this day I still don’t scream on scary rides, scary movies, mice running, spiders in the tub, or anything else. My response is usually a startled OH, heavy panting, and then an uncomfortable chuckle to myself.
Babysitting isn’t easy when parents allow their kids to scream. Screaming is one of those things that I can’t ignore and that really grates on my nerves; like finger nails on a chalkboard. I take kids to the mall or the playground to play and even though the kids I’m babysitting may not be screaming I’m feeling claustrophobic, panicked, and very wound up due to all the kids screaming.
Why does screaming = children? I personally, don’t think it does nor do I feel it is necessary. I love kids, I love all that they can teach me, and all that they do teach me, I love being part of their creative imaginations and seeing a world with no boundaries. BUT, I also have things to teach, and teaching kids that having fun, getting attention, etc doesn’t need to include screaming nor should it; just like my mom used to say: “Save screams for blood, and kidnapping.”
