As our kids grow and mature they begin to be able to regulate their emotions. The first step in regulating emotions is learning to calm down after a big emotional reaction. When kids are young they often need help from their parents to calm down; this looks different for each child but it may come in the form of a hug or deep breathing together. With a little more maturity a child learns to calm down on their own after an emotional storm. The final step (which many adults are still working on) is to be able to identify when an emotional storm is about to begin and do something to calm down before it’s too late. This resource: https://gostrengthsftp.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/Printables/CalmDownCards_GoZenPrintables.pdf provides many calm down strategies that kids (and adults) can draw from, both before or after an emotional storm.
Month: October 2021
Becoming a Peaceful Leader for Your Strong-Willed Child – Janet Lansbury
I read this article this morning and thought it needed to be shared. It is simple and concise and it provides really great guidance for parents who have strong willed children with BIG emotions. It can be hard to empathize with our child’s feelings especially when their emotional reactions seem so much bigger than the trigger. In this article Janet Landsbury explains that the trigger is often just the straw that broke the camels back. Remembering this can help shift our mindset from “What is wrong with my child?” to “this is healthy and normal and my child trusts be enough to let these emotions out with me.” Enjoy!