Valentine’s Day…Hallowe’en…they’re all the same thing.

I love special days as much as the next person, but does any other parent out there notice their kids do a behavioural 180 on these days?

As both of my children are young, it’s understandable that they get excited when a holiday comes around. Naturally, I want to do all that I can to make the most of that special day. I have all kinds of decorations whether it be for Valentine’s Day, Easter, Hallowe’en, etc that we put up a couple of weeks in advance. I plan fun things to do and bake yummy treats too. The big day arrives and what happens? The kids decide it’s a great day to test limits and get in trouble.

Maybe it’s something in their biological makeup…an internal alarm that tells them to act out and be bad. What drives me the most is that it only happen on special occasions! I’m all about consistency and that consequences come with bad behaviour. What makes these days very complicated for me is that, while it may be a special occasion, should their bad behaviour be rewarded with the special activities planned for that day?

Days like that just make me want to shout! “Of all days, why are you acting out today? Don’t you realize all of the fun we were supposed to have?!” Now that I see it on paper (or a screen rather), it seems sort of selfish on my part. I guess it’s just a reminder that, while we may have big plans for our children, they often have big plans of their own.