Little Things, Big Impact!

Hello there - Jill here. My four year old woke up from her nap on the wrong side of the bed. Everything that happened after nap time seemed to be a reason for tears and whining. Ever have that happen? I was getting impatient and tired of nothing being good enough for her - she wanted to have a tea party, but not with her normal play tea party set - a REAL tea party with REAL tea.

In that moment I had to decide - would her bad mood spread to me too or could I change the direction of where this bad mood is going? I chose connection. I boiled water, put in some green tea, and let it sit for a good long time until it was almost room temperature. I then called my daughter into my room and had her pick one of the three dresses I laid out to wear to her tea party. She was so excited! She picked a dress for me and then I picked a dress for her. We grabbed our “fancy” plates and napkins (leftovers from birthday parties past) and I found some graham crackers and a few Easter candies. My daughter invited her dad and her sister and we had a nice tea party after dinner. And guess what? My daughter was less grumpy for the rest of the evening. She has already asked to have another tea party for breakfast!

I could have said no. I was getting grumpy too, but I decided to shelf my irritation and try to engage her instead of lecture her or punish her for having a poor attitude. Will she be grumpy today? Probably, but you know, I might be too! Anytime we can give our kids something small like a five minute thrown together tea party, we show them that they are important, that we hear them, and that we see them. Peace to you!