A Positive Attitude

Monday morning blues

How do you usually feel on Monday mornings?  Many people feel sad, grumpy, apathetic and generally negative when the fun weekend ends and the working week begins. Kids are not immune to this. Often when we arrive at school on Monday mornings, I see many kids - both mine and others with long faces saying "I'm tired".

The Boomtown Rats even wrote a song about the Monday feeling -

"I don't like Mondays"

Positive attitude is the key

If you start your day with a negative attitude, it doesn't bode well for how you are going to feel for the rest of the day.  

One thing I tell our girls when they are grumpy, is that they always have a choice.  They may not always be able to choose the activity they are doing, but they do have a choice as to whether or not to be happy and enjoy it. It's all a frame of mind.  Kids may not have the choice as to whether or not they go to school, but they can choose to find the fun and make the most of it!

The challenge

I decided to set my girls a challenge one week. The challenge was to not make any negative comments at all during the week.  They were to start out with $5, and every negative comment I heard them make, they would lose 20c from that $5.  

I wanted to show them the importance of a positive attitude and how much nicer it is for yourself and everyone around you when you don't moan and groan!

We started our challenge on a Monday morning - and I decided to play them a song in the car on the way to school to start the week off in the right way:

Always look on the bright side of life - by Eric Idle of Monty Python fame!

They loved this song and asked for it every morning that week - and often since then! We also tried to find other happy and bouncy songs to play in the car when we were driving places, which helped keep our spirits up.

It was a great experiment to do with the girls - and it really made them aware of  the negative comments that they make without thinking and also that other people make.

I have to admit that the first week we tried this - the girls money did drop down with some negative comments here and there. They were very conscious of this - and the fact that the comments they made were often said without particularly thinking - they were just habitual comments - and not a good habit!  Frustrated with the dwindling money - our eldest daughter wanted to start over again - and when I said no, she should just try to stay positive for the rest of the week, she then said as many negative comments as she could over and over again until she'd used up all her money!!  The money wasn't the issue - it was just that she wanted to do it right!

So - I agreed that they could start over the next week - and would you believe they both managed to go the whole week with no negative comments at all! It was such a good week, everyone was happy, positive and enjoyed themselves!

Reflections

Bribing my kids to be happy may seem a bit extreme - but it was a one off fun thing to do. They are generally positive thinkers, but it served to make them aware of how often we are negative without realising and the effect that this can have on ourselves and others.

I strongly believe in the importance of a positive attitude, and the difference that can make to your life.

Positivity breeds happiness and that is really what it is all about.

Here's a couple more quotes - just to get you smiling!

"Smile and the world smiles with you.

Cry and you cry alone." 

- Stanley Gordon West

"Life is like a mirror, we get the best results when we smile at it."

- Author Unknown

Are you and your kids positive thinkers?