Sometimes, I just have a bad day. Like everyone, we all have the odd bad day. Some bad days are more bad than others and some are just a bit bad.

Today my three year old declared through tears ‘I’m having a rough day, Mummy!’ This kind of made me laugh and cry all at the same time. I wondered what constitutes a rough day for him. For me its when I’m tired and I want to get things done and I can’t and the kids are going crazy and my house is a tip etc. But for my three year old boy, I’m sure his ‘rough day’ is for very different reasons.

He can’t handle it, for example, when his one year old sister fails to follow his instructions. ‘Sophie, don’t touch my Lego house ok?’ Sophie proceeds to remove the roof from the Lego house and that is pretty much all it takes for George to go into total meltdown.

‘Why is Sophie not listening to me Mummy? Why does she want to brake my things? Why does she always want to play with what I’m playing with?’ For him, this is a recipe for the beginning of a rough day.

Another contributor is when I don’t allow him to constantly eat. He would literally snack all day long if I let him and he tells me how his tummy says it needs some more food. Even if I tell him he just needs to wait a little while, the meltdown begins again. Do I give in? Sometimes I do…

George is a very sociable little boy and loves to play with his friends. He often makes up games for them to play and tends to dictate roles and responsibilities for his little buddies. If protocol is not followed exactly as George has planned, things can go wrong. It makes perfect sense to him that he and his fireman friends need to immediately put out the fire in the corner of the room. It’s not always as obvious to his fellow fire fighters, which doesn’t go down well.

In George’s little mind, these things are so major and impacting on his moods and emotions. With this is mind, I try my hardest to be patient with him and listen to his concerns. I want him to know that he is important and that how he feels matters to me. I want him to know that I will listen to him if he wants to express himself. I might not always be able to fix things or give him what he wants but I will try to never dismiss how he feels.

He is little but he has real worries that are as real to him as my worries are to me. They’re different but no less important.