I have become mindful that I have the power to reset the climate of my home when things turn “stormy”. There are some days (many days) where attitudes turn sour and storm clouds move in. Here are some tricks I have up my sleeve to bring back the “sunny weather” to my home.

Jim Weiss Stories on CD

This actually inspired this post. One morning the girls woke up in sour moods. They were at each other and I was constantly having to referee them. And it wasn’t even 9am! Once they were at the table ready to eat their breakfast (and picking at each other) I went to the CD player, grabbed Jim Weiss’s Animal Tales and put it on. Instantly, Little Bug turned around at the table where she was sitting and smiled a huge smile. The climate of the room immediately changed when I hit the “play” button. There was silence as both girls sat quietly eating their breakfast and listening to Jim Weiss tell stories! The mood change was long-term because the positive attitudes lasted long after they left the breakfast table.

Praise Music

Along the line of stories on CD, praise music can also instantly change the mood of my children. If they aren’t playing well together I will sometimes turn on some music to lighten the mood.

Change Location

If we are playing inside and emotions are escalating and tempers flaring, I will change the scenery by taking us all outside. Same goes for outside play. If they start aggravating each other or don’t seem to be engaged in anything, I will change things up and bring us inside or leave the yard and go for a walk around the neighborhood. Anything I can do to change the current location of everyone can also change the mood.

Read a Book

Gathering everyone for the reading of a good story can put everyone in a better mood. Stories have a way of bringing people together instead of tearing them apart.

Structured Activity

Sometimes the extra drama in the house can be eliminated by doing a structured activity with everyone together. Activities like play dough, painting, coloring, puzzles and games are excellent ways to reel everyone back in and regain control.

Random Bath

A random bath in the middle of the day (or at any time when it is not normal bath time) is a great distractor to little kids! When playing freely isn’t going well for whatever reason, I have filled the tub full of water and let the girls have a bath mid-day. They think it is the coolest thing ever.

Separate Everyone

I use this one as a last resort. There comes a time when we all need a break from each other. This is why we have a mandatory rest/naptime daily, but sometimes the need for time away from everyone comes long before the clock says it is naptime. If it gets to this point, and I have tried one of the other tricks up my sleeve without success, I will tell the girls to sit on the couch and the chair in the living room and read/look at books. This calms everyone down and gives us a restart so we can make it to naptime.

- Elaine