Crabby Moods to Happy Moods

I have a student this year who is moody. I shouldn't start with that. I actually love this kid. He is super funny, very cute and such a nice friend to his classmates. He could be a model student and friend. Except… all of a sudden he will get in a bad mood and suddenly he is whiny, frustrated (aka pushing everyone around who gets in his way or interrupts what he wants) and very difficult to get through to. 

 

In a way though, isn't this what we are all like? At least, this is absolutely what I'm like. What separates me and most of my other students from him is that we have all learned to hide our moods from most people, and my little "moody friend" has not. Well, and that he tends to yell out super dramatic statements like "School is stupid. I am NEVER coming to school again!" when angry. It's hard to keep a straight face when kids say things like this. Sorry bud, about 1 month down and 13 years to go… just before graduating high school...

 

Well last week, I felt like say "Life is stupid. I am NEVER doing life again!" Nah, not that dramatic. I was just in a little rut and/or crabby mood. I've mentioned before that fall is a rough time of year for me. Sure I love the pumpkins and beautiful leaves, but the beginning of the year is hard at work. My students need endless help and support and it's not usual for me to do work for several days straight without coming up for air. It often feels like there will be no end in sight, even though I know December will happen, and I'll get a vacation and this will go uphill from there. It's happened six times before so I know it will happen again. And yet… I was just in a super crabby mood. 

 

The weekend came around and I knew I needed a quick attitude adjustment. Since I subscribe to Amber's thoughts that happiness is a choice, I decided I had to do something and it wasn't going to be easy because I knew had (more) work to do as well. But just like that I looked for all the good in this weekend that I could… and of course, it ended up being a fabulous weekend. 

 

In case you want to share in my joy, here is what I loved about this weekend. 

 

1. A delicious Italian food dinner on Friday night with Eric, Caroline and Jimmy

2. A successful 5K race on Saturday morning with Caroline and Jimmy. Believe it or not, this was Caroline and my first time EVER running together… can you believe that? We did a great job telling each other stories and the 3 miles went by in a flash. The race we did was the Welles Remy Crowther race, which is the 9/11 hero that Erin's son Welles is named after, yay!

 

3. Eric and I did a little day trip (yes, what makes me happier than trips?) up to Kittery, Maine and Portsmouth, New Hampshire. I spent way more than I normally do on some new clothes at the JCrew Outlet (love that place!) and then we headed to Redhook Brewery. This is probably our fourth or fifth time at this brewery and I love it every time. Our most recent visit was this summer to the Woodinville, Washington location. Memories! Finally, we walked around Portsmouth downtown and ate dinner a delicious pizza place called Flatbread Company. Happiness. 

When we got home, Eric and I decided to buy a new TV. It sounds impulsive but actually Eric has been trying to convince me for years, and has researched it pretty in depth. The TV he wanted was on sale, so I figured why not get his Christmas present early and have one less thing to worry about. The funniest part was that when we tried to buy it my credit card shut me off. I guess it looked suspicious that I spent close to $200 on clothes in one state and then decided to buy a TV in another. Definitely not my usual activity! But hey. Who says retail therapy is not real therapy? 

I guess that's also the difference between five-year-olds and me, I can snap myself out of a bad mood. 

 

What do you do when you need to be snapped out of a bad mood?