So you had a bad day…

My son got up on the wrong side of the bed today. He was grumpy from the minute he woke, right through getting dressed, breakfast, making lunch, getting ready and then in the car. He was barking at his brothers, and being snotty with me. He was weepy and emotional and just clearly having a bad day.

Why? I don’t know. And after asking him various times during the morning… and possibly aggravating the situation… I realised he probably doesn’t know why either. We all have those days that we just get out of bed on the wrong side and are just not ourselves.

So on the way to school, after saying “Did you just get out on the wrong side of the bed my boy?” and getting, “I only have one side to get out of!” as a reply… I decided we needed to do an Encouragement Feast for him.

So the 3 of us all said something nice to him, about him, and even though he was still being  offish, and hid behind his backpack, pulling his hoodie over his face, I could see the bottom of his mouth and the sheepish smile that was forming as we each said our little thing to him.

By the time he got out the car, he was grinning and his mood had completely turned around. He kept turning and waving to me as he walked into the school and up the stairs, and he didn’t stop beaming.

It was one of those ‘pat yourself on the back’ moments for me, because my ‘default’ way to handle that would normally have been “Stop talking ugly to everyone, and snap out of it!” And with hindsight, that would either have had him in tears, or just ruined my morning because then I too would have been grumpy.

So I am grateful… to whatever little angel was sitting on my shoulder today because I am pretty sure he will have a great day, and feel loved and special… which is probably exactly what he needed.

Don’t we all?

So next time your kid is having a bad day and taking it out on the rest of your family, try what we did. Boost them and remind them how awesome they are.

Let me know how that turns out for you….  😉