As the parent of a small child, you may have already noticed that no matter what you do, no matter how hard you try to plan, prepare, or otherwise rise to the occasion, there will be days that are simply awful. Sometimes, you can tell that a day is not going to go well as soon as your little ones wake up. Other times, all of the signs of a bad day in the making are there early in the day but you put on your rose colored glasses and try to power your way through it with every ounce of positive energy that you have got – only to wind up with the same result.
Bad days can make us question ourselves as parents. I mean, if we were such wonderful parents, our kids would not spend eight or nine of their twelve waking hours screaming, crying, tantruming, or otherwise railing against the cruel and horrific reality that they perceive their life to be – or would they? After all, adults have bad days, too. We have simply learned to express and/or deal with our feelings regarding the bad things in our days in different ways than children do. They are often so free – they sometimes just let it all out right then and there. Sometimes, though, if they are in a place or with a person that they feel uncomfortable showing their cranky side to (as in, someone who is not a parent) they keep their anger or frustration in. It does not go away, it just comes out later on, sometimes all at once. This is one possible reason why little kids can have really bad days sometimes, days where it seems as if they move from one type of upset to another all day long.
Unfortunately, I do not have some groundbreaking solution that can abolish bad days from your or your child’s future. If I did, today would never have happened as it did. All I can suggest is that you do the best that you can (which at least for me is sometimes not all that great) to be present with your children in a calm and loving way. Also, do not beat yourself up about it – chances are that it is not your fault. The world can be as frustrating to little kids as it can be for adults, and all of us have bad days sometimes.
Photo by xololounge on morguefile.com.