It all seems to come to a head in the morning more than any other time. Which isn't surprising at all. She wants to play, or read books, or watch a show and we've got to get out the door for school and work. That's a timeline I can't really play with, especially on mornings she ends up sleeping in a bit.
One particularly bad morning, I'd finally had it. While brushing her hair and not facing each other, Phee and I talked about our bad mornings. We brainstormed some ways we could stop being grumpy and try to start over and have a better morning together.
This is our short and simple list of fun ways to beat the morning grumpies and start our day on a silly note. It works to keep us aware of how we're interacting with each other. It also means we're not leaving the house irritated so our ride to school is much more enjoyable.
Funny voices: Phee's flair for the dramatic makes this an easy choice. If I use a funny voice and make her laugh, she almost always dissolves in a fit of giggles after she's tried out a couple of voices herself. You know what's better than a kid laughing hysterically? Nothing.
Jokes: Last year while Doug was out of town, I taught Phee all about knock knock jokes. I don't know that he was thrilled to come home to a house of jokes, but it's hilarious when Phee tells a joke really well, or gets a new one I've found. Once we've told a couple jokes, she's so busy trying to think of new ones that the bad mood just dissipates.
Dance party: The easy ideas aren't working, huh? Pick an upbeat song and have a dance party. Get moving, sing at the top of your lungs, and just be all around silly. It's hard not to laugh and have fun after a dance party. We love the Sesame Street station on Pandora.
5 minute break to reset: When our other tricks don't work or we're really upset with each other, Phee and I find it best to just start over. One of us leaves the room for a few minutes, we do something else, and then we come back and try again. Usually, we talk about whatever happened to get us to this point in the morning and we both feel better and ready to move on.
We've found that this list almost always works when we remember to use it. There are days here and there where we're just in a funk and nothing works. A lack of sleep usually precedes those mornings! How do you and your kiddos get over the morning grumpies and get your routine back on track?
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