spit out the grumpies!

My little girl is in a foul mood. She just is. She has decided that she wants to stay in a bad mood, but we are about to embark on a trip to the grocery store with her other sisters and this mood must go or it will be an awful trip. I am tired and frustrated from a long day too, but not adressing this grumpy mood before going into the store will lead to meltdowns and poor behavior in the store resulting not just in a grumpy girl but a grumpy mommy!

I take a deep breath, open my door to get out and slide open the van door. There, face to face with a determined, six year old. Her little lip is pounted out, her eyes small , her face frowning. We have a stare down for a moment, she doesn't give, still stone cold and grumpy. Finally, unexpectedly I say, "spit out the grumpies", and I cup my hand under her mouth as to catch the grumpies. She stares at me, but she is now biting her lip from smiling. "Come on, spit them out, give them to me", I tease and tickle until she laughs and pretends to spit them out. I take the handful of grumpies and throw them across the grocery parking lot. "I hope some other kid doesn't find those grumpies. Lets go get some dinner", I extend my hand and get her down and grab my other children and she skips inside!

Through my 9 years and 3 chirldren of experience I have learned that this trick almost always works when attitudes are poor. As moms, it is so important to know some tricks that will adjust thier /our grumpy attitudes and go about our day instead of staying in those poor attitudes all day! So whats your trick to beat a bad attitude?