What puts parents in a bad mood? Beware!

Well hello there January blues! Yup, it’s January, and the nation it seems…is in the worst  collective mood possible. We’re talking serious grumps. And if you’re on a mission to shake the bad mood that seems to be resting over your head like a black cloud then good luck because apparently the average Brit will spend a year and eight months of their life – in a bad mood, a study by  A.Vogel Herbal Remedies has found.

Each day sees the average adult down in the dumps for a total of 41 minutes thanks to things such as a bad night’s sleep (cue ALL sleep deprived parents!), technology problems, bad manners and the weather. That amounts to almost five hours a week or ten days of every year in a grump.

But if you thought that dealing with everyday things that  grind us down; from technology not working to rudeness- all which affect our moods, is bad enough, spare a thought for us parents because yup, we have a whole other extra layer of things that can tip us into a bad mood as parents at any moment in the day. Here’s just a few which seriously irk parent bloggers for a start:

1.People parking in parent and child spaces when they don’t have kids!– Beauty Baby and Me

2. When your kids squabble for no reason and don’t listen to you – The Mad House of Cats and Babies

3. All the repetitiveness of picking up after people (hubby included in this) even after telling them thousands of times where things go etc – Country Heart and Home  

4. Children refusing to sleep even when they are dead tired – Wave To Mummy

5. When the word Mummy us said for the 3562 time that day. Despite there being other capable adults around who could assist with the urgent question about little Jimmy at School,  – Life Love and Dirty Dishes

6. When you can’t go to the toilet without a crowd, then your child decides to give a running commentary –  Mama Wilkos

7. When you spend a hour trying to get them to nap. Then they just don’t and are awake for a further 2hrs – Hacking Parenthood

8. When you’ve had a really tough day and parenting has been particularly hard and your  husband messages to say he’s going for after work drinks and will be back late – Arthur Wears

9. When your husband suddenly urgently needs the toilet after you’ve asked him to help you do something! – Cold Cuppa Club

10.  Being asked a question by the kids who then choose to argue my answer – Dannyuk.com

11. When my husband can clearly tell the toddler has done a crap in his nappy and yet he claims to ‘not know’ (despite retching as said toddler goes near him) – Life is Knutts 

12. Children asking food, telling you what they want and then not eating it!- Emmys Mummy 

13. Whining kids – namely  a specific whine that seems to be at a tone and volume designed to get on your last nerve – Tippy Tupps  

14. Night time waking and early morning waking 5am everyday! –  Happy Mummy 

15. Children who are incapable of closing cupboard doors or closing drawers. Some days your kitchen looks like a naughty poltergeist has been in and opened every cupboard. It takes one second to close the door – so close it!- Yorkshire Wonders 

Oh yeah, that’s on top of the 50 other things that also put we humans in a foul mood:

Top 50 bad mood triggers

  1. A bad night’s sleep
  2. Technology problems
  3. An argument with your partner
  4. Poor manners – please thank you, holding door open etc
  5. Rude staff
  6. A stressful day at work
  7. Having no money
  8. Rain
  9. Cold calls
  10. Traffic jams
  11. An unexpected bill
  12. Walking behind really slow people
  13. Negativity
  14. Cold weather
  15. People bumping into you and not saying sorry
  16. Call centres
  17. Long queues in shops
  18. Stepping in dog mess
  19. Your boss
  20. Getting splashed by a passing car
  21. A late night
  22. Hunger
  23. Public transport delays
  24. Being too hot
  25. Jobsworths
  26. Donald Trump
  27. PMS
  28. The items you want being out of stock
  29. People talking loudly in the cinema
  30. Bad weather on holiday
  31. Clothes not fitting properly
  32. Children not doing what they told
  33. Not being appreciated at work
  34. People using their phones while eating
  35. Spilling something on a new item of clothing
  36. Not having WiFi
  37. Old people driving
  38. Being hungover
  39. People speaking loudly on the tube/train or bus in the morning
  40. Getting in trouble at work
  41. Shops being closed when you arrive
  42. An inactive sex life
  43. Missing a train
  44. Having a bad hair day
  45. Self-scanning tills in shops
  46. Getting a bad spot
  47. Running out of loo roll
  48. Making a cup of tea only to find the milk has run out or gone off
  49. Friends cancelling a social engagement
  50. Piers Morgan

Quick! Somebody send one of the following bad mood breakers our way then!

Bad mood breakers

  1. A cuddle
  2. Laughing with a friend
  3. Going for a walk
  4. Listening to music
  5. Chocolate
  6. A glass of wine/beer
  7. Having a nice meal
  8. A long hot bath
  9. An early night
  10. A lie in

Surely it’s not too much to ask is it?

Otherwise, I find a picture of a grumpy looking cat usually makes me feel better:

What puts you in a bad mood? Do leave a comment and let it all out below.

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16 comments

  1. I don’t have kids myself but I can relate to some of the other issues. If I have technology problems or someone is super rude to me when it isn’t necessary it definitely puts me in a bad mood x

  2. Ha Ha I’m glad it’s not just my family. My boys arguing over the most ridiculous things with me and then deciding they were actually saying the same thing anyway. Or them arguing point blank that I’m wrong until I prove them otherwise. They don’t even apologise just shrug their shoulders and walk off.

  3. Haha these are all so true! Except the mummy one, as my 3 year old daughter has just stared called me ‘mum’ yesterday and I would love the hear the word mummy right now! I thought I would have a good few year more of being mummy left!

  4. Naptimes are the bane of my life and have been for over 2 years now! My son has always resisted sleep and is a nightmare to get down for a nap – an hour of trying to settle him always has me in a bad mood! Oh, and also, people who walk really slowly, but also, people who are stood stock still in the middle of the pavement blocking my way, but then for no apparent reason decide to start moving just as I’m passing and bump into me! I swear I’m like some kind of magnet to these people!

  5. This made me laugh… people without children who park in parent bays really irritates me. I try getting outside, doing a yoga session or some exercise helps me if I feel a bad mood coming on. But cuddles and a film are definitely the best thing for getting me out of bad mood. Fab post!

  6. Yes to all of these! Tiredness is my biggest trigger – I really don’t cope well with sleep deprivation at all. Thank goodness for coffee. Hugs and a hot bath always work well at boosting my mood too – love that you ended this post with positives 🙂

  7. […] For me personally (and I can only ever talk about myself and my experience) it’s about realizing that what we are looking for (peace and stillness) is something that we already are. Nothing outside of us can give us a feeling. Our feelings come from our mood which then colours everything we see. The peace that we innately are cannot be created by doing x or y. It’s inside of us already and just like the sun it gets clouded from time to time by our more turbulent moods. […]

  8. I spend more than 40 minutes a day in a bad mood! Some of the examples have given me a giggle though!

  9. A lot of truth here. Every now and then I’ll check the back of a car parked in the parent-and-child area just to make sure there’s a car seat in there. It grinds my gears if I have to go and park somewhere else then wrangle my two little ones into the supermarket because a space has been taken by someone who doesn’t need it. :/

  10. Haha .. a parent blogger mentioned in your post said that she is unhappy when she wants her husband to help but then he urgently needed to go to the toilet. It’s funny. For my case, as a new dad, my wife has to do a lot of things with the kids and I need to help for sure, and I share work till everything’s finished then I can start doing my personal leftover work at 10pm sometimes till 1am while my wife and my son are asleep, and I’m happy this way.

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