Having a bad day? Here are three tips to help

Last Updated on June 14, 2025 by Andrea

A Bad Day

Bad days happen, right? Examples of a bad day may include waking up in pain (hip pain and headaches tend to be my wake-up friends lately). Maybe a bad day is when you’re clumsy and nothing seems to go the way you want it to – you drop breakfast, bump into walls, and trip over the dog (yup, I’ve done all those things). Perhaps a bad day is just being short-tempered. Everything everyone says irritates you. (Been there, too.)

It’s not easy to find our way out of the bad day blues. I like to grab a coffee, pray a lot, and nearly hold my breath until it’s over. That usually works okay until everyone is home at the end of the day.

For some reason, when I’m finally with the people who love me the most, I turn into an ugly monster. The bad mood just spills out of me until I’m yelling at everyone, still tripping over the dog, and generally an ogre. Maybe you can relate!

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What to do?

Here’s what I’ve found. This frustrated response gets us nowhere. Even if our family started the day irritating us (as can happen), it’s not productive to keep being upset in the evening.

I’m pretty sure just about everyone has stress in their lives. This fact means that everyone in the family is stressed and would probably like to blow up.

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So what do we do? We know it’s nearly impossible to just “get over it” when we’ve had a bad day. The good news is that there are some simple things you can do. Here are some tried and true tips:

Tried & True Tips

• Take it to the prayer chair (or whatever quiet place you have to pray). I literally have a rocking chair in the sitting room of my bedroom. While this is not where I do my morning quiet time, it’s my “too stressed out to be with people prayer chair.” I have a special encouraging Bible that I keep at a little table just for those moments. I turn to an encouraging Scripture and get calmed down. I pray, I read. I sit quietly. I sometimes cry. What I DON’T do is stress more about what I could be doing instead – prodding kids to do homework, making dinner, or taking out the dogs. When the bad day has gone on too long, a “Mommy time out” works wonders.
• Take a walk. This one is another version of the “Mommy time out.” I generally pray on my walk. Or cry. Whatever works. Sometimes I yell at God (seems wrong? Check out David in the Psalms). A walk releases endorphins and the sunshine can naturally lift our mood while we soak up some vitamin D. Literally cast your cares upon the Lord during this time.
• Find something funny. I admit, this is a tough one for me as I’m a more serious person. I am hard to please with funny shows or comedy acts. But this can totally work! We have a tv in our living room and it connects to our open-plan kitchen. I can turn on a funny show and laugh away the stress! Don’t believe me? Give it a try! Caution: if the kids are home, be sure the funny show is child-appropriate. If it isn’t, you’re just setting yourself up for more stress later.

God’s Got You

Even on the hardest days, we are never out of God’s hand. A difficult time or hard time doesn’t mean God has abandoned us—it may be part of God’s purpose, drawing us closer to Him. When everything feels heavy, turning to God’s Word and inviting the Holy Spirit to guide our prayer focus can make all the difference. The peace of God doesn’t always take away the storm, but it calms our hearts in the middle of it. Offer up your prayer requests—even if they seem like a little thing—because nothing is too small when it’s placed in the hands of God. Lean into the grace of God, and let that grace carry you through the rest of the day or even the whole day. You may feel weak, but in prayer, you become a prayer warrior, standing strong not in your own strength, but in God’s grace. Bad days don’t have to define us when we trust in the One who holds every moment.

If These Tips Don’t Work…

If all else fails, order pizza and go to bed. Seriously. I’ve done this. Sometimes sleep helps. We give our family a break from the ogre, but we’re still taking care of them. I promise good days will come again. In the grand scheme of things, this day will just be a blip on the radar of your family’s life.

So what do you do after a very bad day? How do you keep the ogre from attacking your family at night?

Peace & Blessings in Christ Jesus,

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