100 Days of Happiness Challenge

As part of the CBT work we are doing with our daughter, we have undertaken a 100 Days of Happiness Challenge as a family.  You will probably have seen this on facebook this year where people post a photo every day to show what has made them happy for the day.  Instead of taking photos, we are writing down one happy event each day on a chart and the whole family is taking part.

It is a good way to look back on the simple pleasures in life and is a useful tool to show our ASD children that there are daily positive things to focus on, rather than them homing in on the negative points in life.

We have completed the first week of the challenge and it’s good to see what makes our children happy.  Our eldest son seems to be focussing on his sporting activities, our daughter is happiest when she is doing drama, cheerleading, making loom bands or singing and our youngest son loves being outdoors and active.  My days of happiness so far are centred on being productive and ticking things off my huge to do list (!!) and hearing my kids laugh when they are playing together.  I already realise I need to focus on the latter and appreciate what is already around me, rather than worry about my to do list.

Another 93 days to go with the challenge and I’m hoping it will make us all appreciate the little things in life and make us happier as a family.