Bad moods seem to snowball. Whether you are two or forty-two, a cranky morning rarely turns into an gleeful afternoon without some major intervention. Sometimes you need to stop and start over with a new attitude. For me, taking a walk usually does the trick. A really bad day can be turned around with a good, long run. But these things aren’t always feasible for even for me as an autonomous, independent adult. How do you get a two year old, a five year old, or a ten year old to reset?
Rarely do I think a blog post deserves a blog post of its own, but I fell in love with these gentle ideas for resetting when kids (and parents!) are having a rough day. Bookmark this page:
20 ways to “reset” when the kids are having a rough day
There are some really great ideas there, from the obvious (take a deep breath) to the creative (take five minutes and tear up three pieces of construction paper into little bits. Toss the bits around and make a huge mess). (I may try that one at the office – I’ll let you know how that goes). The different ideas acknowledge different needs: sometimes kids need to scream, sometimes they need to burn off some energy, and sometimes they just need a few minutes of your undivided attention. There’s a solution to meet all kinds of scenarios. I love these ideas – this is a post well worth the few moments it will take to read.
What do you do when you need a reset? How do you help your kids reset?
Wow! You said it better than I did.
Thanks so much for the kind words. I love how you summed it all up. You’ve made my day. Lisa~