What's in a bad day? Every child deserves a bad day. This, of course, means that there will be some days where a child just simply isn't as happy or as active or interested as normal. There is a tendency to think that having a bad day is a privilege of adults. Not So!

Sometimes children are just not feeling at their best. This can be for a range of reasons, not dissimilar from an adult. Sometimes tiredness, emotional upset, disappointments etc. can reduce happiness levels temporarily. We often are not fully aware of these feelings but we know that we are not operating at our best.

What to do? Just accept that a child has the right to a bad day and lower expectations and questions. Probing a child as to why they are feeling down can only cause confusion in a child who feels that to make a parent happy they must be always operating the same way.

Remember a child is keen to have themselves valued by their parents and so they try very hard not to disappoint.

Some positive talk when a child has a bad day could include:

“I sometimes feel down and need time to pick myself up.”
“Having a low day can give us time to look forward to a better day.”
“Low days are preparing for the better days”
“When I have a low day, I like to.....have a bath, go for a walk etc...

The key message here is that having a bad day occasionally is normal. You understand as a parent that they need some space.