A raised voice is far better than a raised hand, that's for sure. But I often wonder what other parents - and anyone around me - thinks when I tell off my little girl, Mia, in public.
I am not one of those unhinged shouters and screamers you see at the supermarket every now and then. You know? The get-in-behind-you-bloody-kids type. It makes you wonder what goes on in the privacy of their home if that's what happens with an audience.
I, like many parents, are more in the vein of sometimes being at their wits end because the kid(s) won't do as they are told.
These days, my darling little Mia is at the pushing boundaries and being a smart arse - I mean, lippy - stage. So at the moment my wife and I quite often find ourselves getting exasperated with her.
And I admit it I have said, "Bloody hell, Mia", a little too loud at certain times.