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Why I Will Never Apologize for My Noisy Kids

That yelling; that’s mine.

Those belly-laughs; they are mine too.

That unruly cackling; yep, you guessed it — mine, as well.

That noise — it’s mine — all mine, and I will never ever apologize for it.

The noise that comes from my three joyful, often messy, surely snotty-nosed children.

Be it inside of our home or when we visit yours. Out at a grocery store or inside a restaurant.

We mean no disrespect; we just can’t contain our noise. And, why should we?

We shouldn’t, you’re right.

Because our noise is a sign of life; a happy life that we are carefully curating as a team.

Because our noise is a sign of learning; my children and my husband and I — all learning from and about each other and ourselves.

Because our noise is a sign of courage; and my goodness, I surely hope and pray that my children will always have the courage to ensure their noise and their voice is heard on any dang topic they feel passionate about.

You see to outsiders, our noise is disruptive and is often perceived as bordering on disrespectful.

Well, let me assure you of this —

There is absolutely nothing disrespectful about love. And love, well, that’s all you’re hearing. You are hearing me love my kids. You are hearing my kids love each other. You are hearing them love their environment. You are hearing me teach them about showing love to strangers.

You are hearing noise because children are meant to be heard. All of their noise — their happy noises, their curious noises, their range of noises that express the gamut of emotions they feel daily.

I will never apologize for the noise and, if you have kids, you shouldn’t either.

To those that are bothered by my family’s noise, I say to you this: Start making some noise of your own and it’ll drown out what you hear from us. Plus, you’ll be much happier.

**This article originally appeared on Scary Mommy. See more from Nicole Merritt at JThreenme.com or connect with her on Facebook

Nicole Merritt
Nicole Merritt
Nicole Merritt is a mother of three, a freelance writer, co-host of I Am The Worst Parent Ever Podcast and the Owner and Founder of jthreeNMe; an imperfectly authentic peek at real-life marriage, parenting, and self-improvement. jthreeNMe is raw, honest, empowering, inspiring, and entertaining; it’s like chicken soup for those that are exhausted, over-stressed and under-inebriated, yet still utterly happy. Nicole's work has been featured by NBC's TODAY Show, Love What Matters, Scary Mommy, The Good Men Project, Elephant Journal, CafeMom, Popsugar, Motherly & many others. You can follow Nicole at jthreeNMe.com and as @jthreeNMe on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram & Twitter!

3 Ways to Fight for Your Marriage When You’re Tempted to Throw in the Towel

"People were placing bets at our wedding. Nobody thought we had a chance."

How to Deal With a Lying Husband and Get a Better Marriage

"I can still remember vividly the look on my husband’s face as regretful tears fell and he lay broken before me."

One Year After “I Do,” Husband Realizes Why Marriage Isn’t for Him

They met when they were 15 and were best friends for 10 years—but after being married just 1 year, the truth hit him HARD.