Bad days…
We all have them. We may have them a little more often when we have kiddos under 5 in the house.
I was having a bad day with my little guy earlier this week. Nothing seemed to satisfy him, and everything else made him mad. When I finally found something that would please him (little prince that he is) I sat down and made this list. Because I know some of you are probably right in the middle of a ‘bad day’ and could use a lifesaver tossed your way.
So here it is, some of my no-fail ways to reset a bad day:
–Toss them into the tub. Fill it with bubbles. No need to actually wash them this time. Just let them go crazy with all of the tub toys you can find, until the water is as cold as they can stand. This is what I did the other day for my little guy. Just like the ocean heals this Momma’s soul, a nice long soak in the tub is sometimes just what my little man needs.
–Blow Bubbles. It’s really the little things. In the movie, Knocked Up, Paul Rudd’s character says, “I wish I liked anything as much as my kids like bubbles.” I agree! Too cold outside? Find somewhere inside- desperate times call for desperate measures!
–Get to Baking. One of my little guy’s favorite things to do is pick a cookie recipe out of a Cookie Cookbook that I have and help me bake it. It gives us a little time together and bonus: Momma gets a post-bedtime snack!
–Color Together. My son isn’t too huge into coloring, UNLESS I sit down and do it with him. I picked up a few adult coloring books, and we sit down together and both color. He loves getting to use Mommy’s special colored pencils, and we both get to waste a little time. And hey- coloring is supposed to reduce stress in adults, which is helpful if you’ve been having a bad day.
–Picnic. Lay out a blanket in the living room (or kitchen for the really messy eaters) and have a snack, picnic style lunch together. Crackers, cheese, grapes, etc. The littles think it’s a huge treat eating somewhere different, and this can also be used as a bit of bribery, as in, “If you play nicely with your toys for awhile, we’ll have a picnic!”
–An Oldie But a Goodie. Nothing cures the bad day blues like a little old-fashioned screen time. But, make this fun for the both of you. Pick out one of your childhood favorites, and educate those little ones on the classics.
–Hide and Seek. Tell them to go hide, and spend a little extra time trying to find them. Sometimes I take even longer and sneak in a cup of coffee or get some laundry folded. A Momma’s gotta go what a Momma’s gotta do!
–Shadow Puppets. Get in the closet or a windowless room, shut off the lights, and use your phones flashlight to put on a shadow puppet show. This is something I did a lot as a kid, but a lot of today’s kids have never done. My Husband does this a lot when my little guy is grumpy, and it always changes his tune!
–Instill a love of reading. Let your kiddos pick out a stack of books and read them together. Sometimes your mini-mes just need some undivided attention, and curling up with Mommy and a few good books is just the ticket to a better mood.
These are just a few fun things you can easily do to turn around a sour mood, or an all around bad day. Sometimes even Mommy needs to do something fun- occasionally I find that maybe it’s actually my mood that needs re-adjusted.
What are some ways you reset a bad day?
