Have you ever had one of those days where everything goes right… until one tiny thing doesn’t?
You spend the whole day together. You laugh, play, maybe even do something fun. Then one small thing doesn’t go the way your child expected.
Suddenly it’s…
“This is the worst day ever!”
“You’re the worst mom!”
“Nothing went the way I wanted!”
And you’re left thinking… Wait a minute. Weren’t we having an amazing day just five minutes ago?
My son has ADHD, and one small disappointment could completely erase all the good parts of the day. It was as if his brain could only focus on the one thing that went wrong.
I couldn’t stop the meltdowns, but I kept asking myself one question:
How can I help him notice the good moments a little more often?
So we started small.
At bedtime I’d ask him to tell me three good things that happened that day. Sometimes we’d make up happy endings to stories. Other times we’d talk about a favorite memory or write our own silly, happy stories together.
Nothing complicated.
Just little moments that gently encouraged his brain to look for the positive.
At first, I had to remind him every time.
Then, slowly, something changed.
Without me asking, he’d start telling me something good that happened at school. He’d remember something funny or something kind someone did.
Is everything perfect now?
Not even close.
Do we still have difficult days?
Absolutely.
But it’s better.
And honestly… those little improvements make me so happy.
Baby steps are still steps.
Since my son loves games (sometimes maybe a little too much 😄), I decided to turn these little exercises into something fun.
That’s how our 20-Day Positivity Challenge was born.
We added Smile Tickets because earning rewards is motivating for him, and it also teaches patience. After collecting Smile Tickets, he can trade them for simple rewards like choosing the family movie, extra bedtime stories, an ice cream trip, or another special activity we choose together.
Here’s what our Smile Tickets look like before we cut them out and put them in our little reward jar.
Once they’re cut out, they go into our reward jar until it’s time to trade them in for a reward.
The challenge itself is simple. Every day he completes one small positivity activity.
Some of our favorites are:
- Tell me three good things about today.
- Give a story a happy ending.
- Draw a happy memory.
- Tell someone why you appreciate them.
- Say one kind thing about yourself.
- Do one random act of kindness.
- Think about something that made you laugh today.
- Write three things you’re grateful for.
Then something happened that I never expected.
One day I was the one having a hard day.
I was tired, overwhelmed, and honestly not being the patient, playful mom I always hope to be.
Life happens.
And then my son started doing something that almost brought tears to my eyes.
He started using the same positivity strategies we’d been practicing together.
He reminded me of the good things.
He helped me look for something positive.
He was trying to cheer me up.
I hadn’t taught him those activities so he could fix my bad days.
But somehow, he had learned that when someone you love is struggling, you can gently help them remember that not everything is bad.
It worked.
Not because my problems disappeared.
But because it grounded me.
It reminded me that even on hard days, there is still something worth holding onto.
Now, when he does that, I let him.
I want him to see these aren’t just activities for kids. They’re tools we can all use throughout life.
The goal has never been to force happiness. The goal is to help our kids build the habit of noticing the good alongside the hard.
We still talk openly about difficult emotions in our home.
Being sad is okay.
Being frustrated is okay.
Being disappointed is okay.
We’re not trying to erase those feelings or pretend everything is fine.
We’re simply helping build the habit of finding a little light, even on difficult days.
Because both can exist at the same time.
We’re not raising kids who are happy all the time. We’re raising kids who know how to find hope even on difficult days.
This little challenge has become one of my favorite things we’ve done together.
If you’d like to try something similar with your own family, I hope these ideas inspire you.
And if you’d rather save yourself the time of creating everything from scratch, I turned the activities we use at home into a printable 20-Day Positivity Challenge with Smile Tickets, a Reward Store, editable pages, and Positivity Superstar Certificates.
After using these activities with my son, I put everything together into a printable so I wouldn’t have to recreate it every time, and so other parents could use it too. If you think it would help your family, you can check out Positivity Challenge Printable.
You can also browse the rest of my printables here:
👉 Play.Connect.Repeat Etsy Shop
And if you have your own positivity ideas, I’d genuinely love to hear them. Some of the best parenting ideas come from other parents.