Mornings can set the tempo for the day.

As much as you try to avoid it, when the day starts off badly, the sour mood can be hard to shake. But begin the day on a joyful note, and it puts a smile on your face that can last no matter what bumps you might encounter.

On a recent unseasonably warm September day, I drove up to my oldest child's school, wondering how my sometimes reluctant kindergartener would be this morning when I dropped him off on the playground.

Seeing a group of kids playing kickball, my sports-loving son quickly undid his booster seat, gave his siblings and me a kiss and said, "Gotta go," and ran out of the van to join them. His brother and sister yelled goodbye from their seats, and Benjamin, eager to participate with others, waved and yelled goodbye in return without ever looking back.

This day, I thought, is off to a beautiful start for all of us.

As I was looking in my rearview mirror waiting to merge into traffic, I saw one of his kindergarten classmates giving her dad a long embrace, not ready to leave his side.

The father, who must be a fan of "The Kissing Hand" book in which a little raccoon's mother comes up with an idea to help her son remember that she loves him and is thinking about him even when she isn't there, kissed his daughter’s right hand and then her left.

She smiled and skipped away. Their morning off to a happy start, too, with reassuring kisses to last the whole day through.