Got a MOODY TEENAGER? Let me share a small win with you … how getting her to move improved her mood.
They say pick your battles … so this time I chose to stand my ground and I’m glad I did.
Our teenager is less than impressed with the menu of a cafe we go to for brekky. “I don’t want to eat anything on this menu!” she growls. Then proceeds to give the family the silent treatment with a disgusted look on her face as the rest of us have brekky. A teenager tantrum. 🙄 It infuriates me.🤯
We are a solid 45 min walk from our apartment. So I declare that Miss teenager is going to be walking back with me. She protests. Vocally. “I AM NOT WALKING!!”😡
I insist and ask husband to leave with my other daughter so there is no option but for us to walk. I even have to block her exit from the cafe so Miss Teenager doesn’t get the chance to jump in the back seat. Yes it was THAT bad!
I tell her she doesn’t have to walk with me or talk to me. Which suits her fine. I ask her “on a scale of 1 to 10, what kind of mood are you in right now … with 1 being worst mood ever”? She replies “Well it would be ZERO then!”. If looks could kill I’d have died a torturous death.
At one point she chooses to walk alone on the beach while I take the footpath. Fine by me. She’s in line of sight. It’s raining. We rejoin about 10 mins later.
We are now 30 minutes into the walk. Her mood has shifted. She says a few (non hostile) things to me. We wander through markets. Her mood is better. She’s no longer angry.
500m from home I have my girl back. She admits she’s feeling better … that the walk wasn’t as bad as she thought … that she enjoyed walking on the beach by herself.
At that point I explained I made her walk not to punish her, but to help her because she was in a foul mood and I knew she would be in a bettter mood after a walk. She can see that I was right (even though she’d rather not admit it). She is no longer a ZERO out of 10. 🙌🏻
Parenting is hard. And I know it’s going to get harder! But I’m going to celebrate this little win today and that I insisted that she move despite the resistance. She learned something even if she doesn’t know it yet.
MOVEMENT WILL CHANGE YOUR MOOD IN A POSITIVE WAY. The science proves it. So if you or your child is struggling with mood and emotions GET MOVING!
This battle was worth the fight. 😊