- "are you mad because you don't want to take a nap?" or "are you mad because your sister took your toy?" then tell them "it's okay to be mad, but it's not okay to hit and it's not okay to yell. if you are mad, you can say, "mommy, i'm mad!" and we can work it out together." as for the time outs, sometimes moms need a time out, too! if i find myself getting angry and yelling, i tell the kids i need a time out and i go to my room until the timer goes off (i don't go quite as long as a minute for every 