Have you ever noticed that you children emulate your mood? While I have noticed this in the past, I had forgotten how strongly my mood impacts my daughters’ moods. Last week I was sad. After a week of running around and visiting family I thought I was just having a hard time adjusting to being back home again. But it was more than that, I was/am sad about one of my family relationships and it impacted the mood of everyone around me.

My husband came home from work one day and said, “Did I do anything?” I responded with, “No, you haven’t done anything.” Poor guy. I actually felt sorry for him having to put up with me.

With my sad mood, my girls were reacting badly. They were not doing anything I asked them too. Everything was an ordeal. I felt like I was fighting with them everyday and all day. By the time my husband got home I was frazzled. So one night last week, I went out by myself for a couple of hours. I had a pleasant time and started to feel better. When I returned home, my husband was frazzled. He had resorted to letting them watch TV because they were in such a mood after I left.

We discussed possible reasons they might be acting out. My first thought was that it was due to our diet while on vacation – a lack of healthy choices. Then I thought it was because their schedule was all messed up or that maybe they were not getting enough stimulation during the day. But then one day everything changed…

I was finally able to pull myself out of my mini-depression (it lasted only 4-5 days, but seemed longer). Then low and behold, my girls started following directions again. They were happy and playing well together. So was it their diet, their schedules or me? I know what my guess is.

Do your children react so strongly to your mood?

by Kelly Damron

Photo graciously provided by tanakawho, through a Creative Commons license, some rights reserved